Option3 Ventures

Option3 sources opportunities through its Technology Board, a group of former senior officials from the CIA, NSA, and DoD who understand cybersecurity requirements years before they become commercial. This board assesses every potential investment, giving the firm early visibility into companies aligned with national security needs. The firm also draws on an Advisory Council with expertise in defense, energy cybersecurity, and global finance.

Yes. When Option3 launched in 2015, it made largely minority investments in earlier-stage cybersecurity companies through its C1 vehicle. The firm has since moved to control or joint-control investments and now focuses primarily on mid-market buyouts. This shift reflects both the maturing cybersecurity sector and the management team's preference for active board control.

Manish Thakur, the firm's founder and Managing Partner, leads investment decisions. The Technology Board — which includes former CIA CIO Alan Wade and former DoD CIO John Stenbit — assesses each deal, but Thakur's 25 years of finance and security-sector experience anchor the final call. Operating Partner Karl Kilb and Partners Pravin Patil, Joey Baldwin, and Abhijeet Mahajan form the core investment team.

Option3 is structured as a specialist private equity fund, not a family office. It manages pooled capital from external investors, which include family offices — Jamil Sopher, an early entrant into the cyber sector, was the first outside investor. The firm operates successive investment vehicles, with its most recent being the CE Zero Trust Roll-Up platform launched in 2023.

Enigma is Option3's current-control vehicle, formed as a roll-up of the firm's earlier CS portfolio companies alongside other Zero Trust and mid-market cybersecurity assets. The platform buys out existing CS investors and consolidates technologies that align with national security and enterprise Zero Trust requirements. Karl Kilb serves as Chief Strategy Officer of Enigma.

The firm has historically invested through its own dedicated vehicles — C1, CS, and the Enigma platform — rather than co-investing alongside large general partners. Its ecosystem includes an Advisory Council with financial and legal expertise that supports deal execution, but Option3 typically leads or jointly controls its investments directly.

The firm concentrates on industrial controls security, operational technology, defense/C5ISR, automotive security, IoT and IIoT security, Zero Trust solutions, healthcare IT, and cyber insurance. These areas reflect what the Technology Board identifies as the capabilities America will most need in the next five years.