Growth support accelerates launch of pioneering digital forensics platform

Squirrel Forensics is preparing to launch The Acorn, a digital forensic operating system designed to help investigators and incident response teams get to relevant evidence sooner.

Investigators often spend considerable time moving evidence between separate utilities, repeating configuration steps and bringing different outputs together. The Acorn connects these activities in one workspace, combining evidence protection, acquisition, recovery, focused examination and reporting, with a portable workstation for use in the laboratory, office or on site.

With The Acorn approaching launch, Squirrel Forensics needed an effective go-to-market strategy and turned to Innovate UK Business Growth, delivered by Business West in the South West, for support.

Innovation and growth specialist, Melody Thompson, developed a growth plan focused on consolidating their business strategy, understanding their route to market, and preparing for funding opportunities.

One of the earliest priorities was navigating the complex world of innovation funding. Funding specialist, Andrew Mercer, helped them understand what assessors look for, how to interpret questions accurately, and how to construct a compelling, competitive application.
Although grant opportunities in their space have been limited recently, the support has positioned them to respond quickly when the right competition opens.

“Funding is a skill in itself. Andrew helped us understand the process properly, that resource is absolutely extremely useful.” Chris Booth, Co-Founder, Squirrel Forensics

With a broad potential audience, Squirrel Forensics needed a clear, segmented marketing strategy. Digital marketing specialist Angus Ogilvy-Stuart delivered a deep dive into their website, messaging, and commercial positioning, challenging assumptions and giving the founders clearer direction for launch. His support covered:

•    defining value propositions for different user groups
•    long-tail keyword strategy for niche forensic use cases
•    SEO optimisation and pay-per-click opportunities
•    effective LinkedIn and email nurturing campaigns
•    understanding PR and influencer potential in cybersecurity communities

“Initially I wasn’t sure how much value we’d get, but the work with Angus turned out to be one of the most useful parts of the whole journey. The guidance was clear, professional and genuinely eye-opening.” Alistair Ewing, Co-Founder, Squirrel Forensics

As Squirrel Forensics prepared for launch, protecting their proprietary kernel-level write-blocking became a priority.

IP Specialist Kate Butler helped them understand which elements of The Acorn should be protected and how future additions. Although they are not yet at the filing stage, the team now has a clear roadmap for safeguarding their most valuable technical assets as they grow.

Since March 2026, Squirrel Forensics has been working closely with the University of Staffordshire’s Computing Department to explore how The Acorn can support practical digital forensics education.

 An earlier version was piloted with students on the university’s Digital Forensic Investigation master’s course during the 2025/26 academic year.

Feedback from staff and students has helped refine The Acorn, offering insight into teaching requirements, student workflows and how the platform can help students connect forensic tools with investigative questions. The substantially developed latest version is planned for use during the 2026/27 academic year.

Working with Innovate UK Business Growth provided the founders with a stronger grasp of how to commercialise The Acorn, refine their audience segmentation and shape a realistic growth plan.

This guidance helped them move beyond purely technical thinking and develop a sharper, more coherent commercial strategy. As the product and its audiences have developed, that work has also helped the team consider how to explain a technically broad platform to very different users.

As a result, Chris and Alistair now feel better equipped to position The Acorn for different markets with clearer messaging and a more focused route to market. As Alistair puts it: