The ex-Secret Service agent who flipped a hacker is now raising a second $250M cybersecurity fund

TechCrunch · Connie Loizos · 2026-11-05 18:00 UTC

Stephen Ward, a former Secret Service agent and Home Depot CISO, is preparing a second fund of roughly $250 million for Brightmind Partners.

Every time venture capitalists write a check, they’re secretly running numbers in their heads about different exit scenarios. It’s their job as fiduciaries. But nearly all will tell you (publicly, anyway) that every portfolio company is headed for an IPO.

Stephen Ward, the co-founder of Brightmind Partners, a two-year-old cybersecurity fund in New York, says otherwise outright. “You have to sell on the way up,” he says.

Ward’s unvarnished pragmatism is one reason he stands out. Another is the size of his firm’s debut fund late last year: a whopping $250 million fund, which he closed with co-founder Gur Talpaz. A third reason is his résumé, which includes a stint with the Coast Guard, nine years in the Secret Service, and CISO jobs at TIAA and Home Depot before he ever thought about investing.

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