By Michael Scott
Blockchain-based provider of security services Ironblocks announced raising $7 million in just concluded funding round. The funding round was necessary to facilitate the security firm’s projects in product development following the record period defined by multiple losses to hackers.
Multi-Tech Support in Funding Round
Ironblocks’ funding round attracted the participation of multiple tech-oriented firms led by Disruptive AI and Collider Ventures. The fundraiser drew interest from ParaFi, Samsung Next, and Quantstamp.
Individual investors actively participated in the fundraiser, including former Coinbase executive Balaji Srinivasan and Simplex co-founder Nimrod Lehavi alongside Lluis Pedragosa. The security firm plans to allocate the funds toward facilitating new product development, new hiring, and partnerships.
Ironblocks fundraiser echoes rounds concluded by rival companies led Chainalysis. The provider of real-time anti-money laundering services has held six rounds to attain $8.6 million valuation. Similarly FireBlocks funding rounds have yielded closer to $1 billion while CertiK have $300 million to attain a value of $2 billion.
Ironblock’s Security Solution to Prevent Crypto losses
A chainanalysis review of the previous year’s hack incidents revealed that over $3.8 billion of cryptos were lost during exploits. The scrutiny demonstrated that decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols suffered the largest vulnerability to hackers. In particular, cross-chain bridges emerged as the primary target of hackers.
Cybercriminals have earned $3 billion in 141 exploits executed since January 2022. The exploits places 2022 losses above the 2021 malfeasance incidents.
Lauding the successful fundraiser, Ironblocks head of technology Assaf Eli revealed that the Tel Aviv-based firm would prioritize security solutions tied to smart contracts. The product would become the premium product for the firm, started in 2022 by Dadosh, who currently serves as the chief executive officer.
Creating Automated Contract-Oriented Security Solution
Creating a contract-oriented security solution would offer on-chain threat detection automated to improve the DeFi and Web3 protocols’ security. The automation would enable cross-chain bridges and market markers to swiftly stop exploiters as they launch attacks, thereby securing the funds.
Smart contracts require integrating proper protection similar to blockchain financial fundamentals. Yorai Fainmesser of Disruptive AI indicated that this awareness is considered critical for the ecosystem’s maturity led by institutional players.
Ironblocks representative indicated that the funds raised would facilitate the firm in harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence and expertise in native blockchain experience to shape the execution of on-chain products.