Initia Risk Shortlisted for CIR Risk Management App of the Year

We're delighted to share that Initia Risk has been shortlisted for Risk Management App of the Year at the 2026 CIR Magazine Risk Management Awards.

Initia is a one-year-old platform built by a team of practitioners. We built it because we lived the problem: manual RCSAs, first-line teams that wouldn't engage, and risk reporting that got rebuilt from scratch every cycle. The shortlisting tells us we're not alone in thinking there's a better way.

What the CIR Risk Management Awards Are

The CIR Magazine Risk Management Awards are one of the UK risk profession's main annual programmes. Organised by CIR Magazine, they recognise people, products and programmes across risk management - from Risk Manager of the Year through to specialist software categories.

2026 is the 17th annual awards. CIR published the shortlist in late August, with winners announced at the November ceremony. Being on that list is independent recognition from the same community that runs RCSAs, challenges residual risk, and takes the pack to the board.

Risk Management App of the Year

The Risk Management App of the Year category is awarded to the company or team responsible for creating - or significantly developing - software designed to address real risk management challenges. Judges look for innovation and ease of use, plus evidence of successful implementation and proof of use. Customer endorsements are encouraged alongside the written entry.

That brief is close to how Initia was designed. Not a feature catalogue. A platform first-line teams will actually complete, and a reporting layer the second line does not have to rebuild every quarter. See what an RCSA is and why most fail and how to create real risk ownership for the operating problems underneath that brief.

We are proud to be listed alongside established names in risk and compliance software: Mitratech, CLDigital, RiskSmart and Battleground Group.

A One-Year-Old Platform, Built by Practitioners

Most GRC tools in this category have been in market for years. Initia Risk has not. The product was built by people who had run the framework inside regulated firms - and who were tired of tools that looked complete in a demo and then sat unused by the first line.

The three problems we kept hitting, and designed Initia around, were practical:

• Manual RCSAs - assessments living in spreadsheets, with version chaos, no audit trail, and a second line spending the cycle chasing completions rather than challenging the scores. See Excel vs GRC tools for RCSA.
• First-line teams that wouldn't engage - because the language was compliance-speak, the workflow was another system to feed, and ownership was a name on a register rather than a job someone recognised. See driving real risk ownership.
• Reporting rebuilt from scratch every cycle - the board pack as a quarterly project, not a view of the live register. See board-ready risk reporting.

That is the product modern risk management software for regulated firms should actually be. The shortlisting does not change the work. It is a signal that the market - not just our early clients - recognises the same gap.

What Happens Next

Finalists go through to the November awards. We will share the result when CIR does. Until then, the job is the same as it was before the shortlist: keep the platform honest against how risk functions actually run, and keep shipping for the firms already using it.

Thank you to our early clients and partners who have backed us from the start - including Davies, who chose Initia Risk as their risk and compliance platform. You can meet the team on our About page.

If you want to see what a practitioner-built risk platform looks like in practice, book a conversation.

Further reading: what an RCSA is and why most fail, how to create real risk ownership, and modern risk management software for regulated firms.