Crypto security startup Hypernative raises $9 million to help prevent Web3 cyberattacks

Hypernativea startup focused on crypto security, has raised $9 million in seed funding as it emerges from stealth, co-founder and CEO Gal Sagie exclusively told TechCrunch.

The funding round was led by boldstart ventures and technology fund IBI, with strategic investments from Blockdaemon, Alchemy, Borderless, CMT Digital, Nexo and angel investors. The company was started by Sagie and Dan Caspi, who are also CTOs of Hypernative. The co-founders collectively have experience in cloud infrastructure, building large-scale distributed systems, and security, and have worked at places like IBM, Google, and Microsoft.

“We started Hypernative early last year when we saw huge amounts of money being stolen or hooked or scammed in crypto,” Sagie said. “We saw huge gaps between the tools that existed and the money invested, so we wanted to create something to help prevent [attacks].”

In September, the team launched its first product, Pre-Cog, a platform that monitors on- and off-chain data sources to predict threats before they arise. Since its launch, it has helped users save “tens of millions” of dollars, Sagie said.

The startup is focused on “detecting buildings early” and manually connecting its tools through client workflows, Sagie said. Its ideal clientele ranges from asset managers, hedge funds, traders and market makers interacting with crypto to blockchains and protocols, he added.

“We do the detection in advance,” Sagie noted. “Many incidents alerted [users] minutes or hours before an attack occurs, so we helped prevent attacks with alerts. »

Going forward, Hypernative aims to create prevention workflows that provide “end-to-end systems that mitigate risk without doing anything,” Sagie added.

Even though crypto markets may be down, there are still billions of dollars invested in the space, making it a target for attacks by those looking to earn (and take) money. money fast. In 2022, the majority of losses, $3.77 billion, came from hacks out of 134 specific incidents, according to Immunefi’s Crypto Losses 2022 report.

Last year, each quarter saw a handful of multimillion-dollar losses, some larger than others. The fourth quarter of 2022 was the largest, with $1.62 billion in total losses from 55 incidents, accounting for nearly half of the year’s total losses, according to the report.

“In my experience, hackers don’t sleep,” Sagie said. “They don’t care if it’s a bull or bear market. Where there is money and opportunity, they go.

The crypto industry needs more tools to help prevent hacks before they happen, so “there’s a big opportunity” to improve the space, Sagie said.

“Hackers appreciate risk and volatility in the market and take advantage of it,” he added. “It’s a problem we have to solve.”