Halborn, a blockchain security startup, has raised $90 million in series A funding. The transaction stands out in a market where venture capital investment in cryptocurrency firms has substantially slowed, and the value of digital currencies has plummeted.
The Series A funding for Miami-based Halborn was overseen by Summit Partners and also included participation from Castle Island Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and Brevan Howard. The three-year-old company, however, chose not to disclose its valuation.
As the values of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) have declined, many crypto-related businesses have recently attempted to raise money at lower valuations and have laid off employees.
Halborn’s CEO, Rob Behnke, claims that the company is somewhat immune to the effects of the crypto winter due to its focus on cybersecurity. He stated in an interview that “the price of crypto has nothing to do with our business. What matters is that the entire industry is growing. ”
Behnke stated that since high-profile cyberattacks have shaken the sector over the past year, Halborn has witnessed an uptick in demand for the company’s services. The firm attempts to prevent these exploits by identifying flaws in the codebase that runs blockchain platforms and implementing security measures. For example, the $620 million hack of the non-fungible token game Axie Infinity in March was caused by a flaw in the code.
Last month, the startup revealed that they had discovered a bug in the well-known cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask. “We’ve held onto that for almost a year until they fixed it,” Halborn Co-Founder and Chief Information Security Officer Steve Walbroehl said in an interview.
Halborn collaborates with Ava Labs, the creator of the Avalanche blockchain, and Coinbase Global Inc. Halborn also educates banks, family offices, and venture capital firms about the risks associated with cryptocurrency projects. It even teaches non-crypto corporations such as Nike Inc., BNY Mellon, and Amazon Inc. how to use and secure cryptocurrency.
According to Behnke, those firms are concerned about losing all of their money in the event of a cyberattack.
Although the crypto sector is still in its early stages, Matthew Hamilton, Managing Director at Summit Partners, stated in an interview that the private equity firm expected demand for the company’s security services to increase over time. He even sees advantages to the industry’s current crypto winter. According to him, the crypto winter is a critical separating factor between good and bad ideas.
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