Ironblocks has announced it raised $7million in seed money for its Blockchain-native platform for cybersecurity that utilizes smart contracts to automatically detect threats for Web3 application developers so that they can take action to stop hackers.
Collider Ventures led the funding round with Quantstamp as a participant, while ParaFi, Samsung Next and Disruptive AI also participated. Balaji Srinivasan – former Chief Technology Officer at Coinbase and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz – and Alan Leung – cofounder of Simplex – were also part of the funding round.
Ironblocks utilizes smart contracts in its security solutions to identify hackers and anomalies before they grow into bigger problems. Smart contracts consist of pieces of self-executing codes written on the blockchains which run when conditions are met. They are a fundamental part of decentralized application.
Web3, or the decentralized Web, as well as the ecosystem of decentralized financial services are all built upon blockchains and intelligent contracts. Smart contracts are often targeted by attackers when they steal tokens from DeFi or other Web3 apps. They have become a major security infection point.
Ironblocks CEO Or Dadosh said, “We think smart contract security should be a right of all crypto traders. We want to make sure that data and crypto assets are safe to promote the widest adoption for DeFi and Web3.”
Ironblock is a Tel Aviv based startup that was established in 2022. Its co-founders Or Dadosh, and its Chief Technology officer Assaf ELI are both experienced software engineers with blockchain backgrounds. Dadosh, Eli and their team are both veteran software engineers who have blockchain and cybersecurity backgrounds. They were on the DeFi-led Bancor development team.
A report by Chainalysis shows that hacks, exploits, and other cyber attacks cost the blockchain protocol industry more than $3,8 billion last year. Cross-chain bridges which allow users to transport cryptocurrency across blockchains were the second most common victim, after DeFi protocols. Some of the biggest hacks that occurred in 2022 were $615,000,000 stolen from Ronin Network – the blockchain for the popular game “AxieInfinity”, $570,000,000 taken from Binance Holdings Ltd.’s BNB Chain, and 320,000,000 stolen from Wormhole.
Security has become increasingly important, as decentralized applications are built and used. Immunefi’s Web3 bug-bounty program reported that more than 155 incidents affecting DeFi protocol were isolated in 2022, representing an increase of 56% compared with 2021.
Signing up to the platform provides users with end-toend security, which includes detection and alerts of suspicious activity occurring in real time. A customizable dashboard is also available as well as a system for preventing threats and taking action immediately. Users can also customize their dashboard to include customized notification monitoring and threat metrics.
Ironblocks stated that the funds will be used to develop their product further and expand their current engineering, sales and market team. The funding will be used to support several upcoming partnerships and product launches.