Ironblocks today announced that it has raised $7 million in seed funding for its blockchain-native cybersecurity platform that uses smart contracts to automate threat detection for Web3 app developers to take steps to stop hackers.

The funding round was co-led by Collider Ventures and Disruptive AI, with participation from ParaFi, Quantstamp, and Samsung Next. Others joining the round included, among others, Balaji Srinivasan, former chief technology officer at Coinbase and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and Alan Leung, co-founder of crypto infrastructure company Simplex.

Ironblocks uses smart contracts as part of its security solution to catch hackers and anomalies early, before they become bigger threats. Smart contracts are pieces of self-executing code written on blockchains that run when predetermined conditions are met and are fundamental parts of decentralized applications.

The entirety of Web3, otherwise known as the decentralized web, and the decentralized finance ecosystem are built on top of blockchains and smart contracts. Attackers often target smart contracts when stealing tokens from DeFi and other Web3 applications, making them a primary security infection point.

“We believe that smart contract security is a given right for all crypto traders and protocols, and we aim to ensure the safety of data and crypto assets in the best way to bring about the broad adoption in DeFi and Web3,” said Ironblocks Chief Executive Or Dadosh.

Tel Aviv-based Ironblock was launched in 2022 by co-founders Or Dadosh and Chief Technology Officer Assaf Eli. Both Dadosh and Eli are veteran software engineers with blockchain backgrounds and cybersecurity experience with DeFi having been on the team that developed Bancor, a DeFi trading and rewards protocol.

Last year, blockchain protocols suffered tremendous losses to hacks and exploits with more than $3.8 billion stolen, according to a report from Chainalysis. DeFi protocols were by far the biggest victims, followed by cross-chain bridges, which let users transport cryptocurrency between blockchains. Examples of big hacks from 2022 included $615 million stolen from Ronin Network, the blockchain behind the popular “Axie Infinity” game, $570 million taken from Binance Holdings Ltd.’s BNB Chain, and $320 million stolen from the Wormhole bridge.

As more and more decentralized apps have been built and deployed, the necessity for increased security has only become more critical. A report from Immunefi, a Web3 bug bounty program, isolated more than 155 incidents during 2022 affecting DeFi protocols, representing a 56% increase compared to 2021.

Users signing up for the platform get end-to-end security for their Web3 product including detection and alerting of suspicious activity in real time, a customizable dashboard and a threat prevention system that can take immediate action to prevent exploits. The dashboard also allows users to set up their own threat metrics and personalized notification monitoring for particularized thresholds.

Ironblocks said that it will use the funding to further develop its product and expand its current team across engineering, sales and marketing. It will also support a number of upcoming product launches and partnerships.

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