As Former Chief Information Security Officer at General Motors and Hewlett Packard, with global cyber responsibility at Dell, Armour Brings Decades of First-Hand Expertise

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Option3, a specialist cybersecurity private equity firm that combines a heritage in the national security community with decades of expertise in the investment industry, announced today that industry veteran Rich Armour has joined its Technology Board. In this role, Armour will offer insight and strategic direction on the firm's investment strategy. This appointment comes at a time of growth for Option3 with its C2 mid-market Cybersecurity Private Equity fund as well as focused investments in priority areas that span from insurance to military contracting.

Armour brings firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by Chief Information Security Officers (CISO), having served in the position at General Motors from 2010 to 2012, and at Hewett Packard from 2014 to 2019. Armour also served in a similar global cyber role as Information Technology Director for Dell Computers from 2000 to 2005.

"Rich brings a real world CISO perspective that can only come from decades on the front line of cybersecurity," said Manish Thakur, Founder and Managing Partner of Option3. "He joins us at an important time for Option3 as we set strategies and review investments for our C2 cyber mid-market fund. We especially honor his service in the U.S. Air Force, particularly given today's more hostile global environment, and our own increased investment in the defense sector." Thakur noted that Armour served in the United States Air Force for 20 years from 1972 to 1992, where he led the team which developed the first Department of Defense-wide standard IT architecture.

"I am very pleased to be joining the Option3 team, particularly as the Technology Board sets strategies for the C2 Fund and scales up opportunities in priority areas such as defense where I can add value," said Armour. "Option3's approach to the market is based on the practical needs of the CISO, not the technologist, and this is reflected in its focus on the mid-market where the champions and platforms of tomorrow will be created."

Option3 is a specialist cybersecurity private equity firm based in New York and Reston, Virginia that combines experience from the classified world of U.S. national security with decades in investing, capital markets, and M&A. Since 2015, Option3 has invested in a variety of innovative companies across the cyber ecosystem, largely through two investment portfolios. It is currently "advance investing" out of its new "C2" cybersecurity private equity fund. Unlike the venture investing of most cyber funds, C2 will take control positions in mid-market companies, growing them to scale. The Fund will leverage the C-suite operational experience of the Option3 team including Chief Financial, Marketing, Technology, and Risk Management positions. Option3's investment strategy is informed by its longstanding Technology Board, which spans the former Chief Information Officer of the CIA to the former CIO at Department of Defense, and an Advisory Council led by a former CEO of Lehman Brothers. For more information, please visit www.option3.com. 

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SOURCE Option3