Cybersecurity firm CrowdSec raises $13.7 Mn in Series A funding

CrowdSec, a cybersecurity startup that tackles global cybercrime, has announced a $13.7 Mn (€14Mn) Series A funding. The round was led by Supernova Invest and along with CrowdSec's longtime existing investor Breega. 

The funding comes at a time when organisations are realising the acute importance of having cybersecurity systems. Cybercrime has been quite rampant and now organisations are spending billions of dollars to safeguard themselves from pervasive attacks.

CrowdSec will utilise the latest cash injection to increase the workforce from 20 to 45 members, develop new product offerings, ramp up revenues, expand its U.S. operations and scale up its service networks.

Despite billions of dollars being spent annually on high-tech cybersecurity systems, global cybercrime is an increasingly pervasive problem with hundreds of thousands of attacks on consumers, corporations and countries taking place every day.

Etienne Moreau, Partner at Supernova Invest said, "We are proud to support CrowdSec in its ambition to entirely rebuild the foundations on which cybersecurity was built, making the internet a safer place for all, from developers to large industrial corporations. Working pervasively within the existing ecosystem, CrowdSec, with its unique vision, is poised to become an intrinsic part of worldwide cybersecurity."

The French startup was launched in 2020 by cybersecurity experts Philippe Humeau, Laurent Soubrevilla and Thibault Koechlin. A revolutionary, participative and open source (MIT license) solution, it leverages the power of its user base ("the crowd") to signal attacks and create a database of malicious IP addresses for all community members to block, generating a real-time, crowdsourced, threat intelligence system that can counter cyber attacks worldwide.

CrowdSec CEO, Philippe Humeau said, "At the heart of CrowdSec is a simple but powerful idea: community action. 40 years of cybersecurity has proven isolated cybersecurity defences to be largely ineffective, regardless of the vast resources invested by companies, institutions and governments."

He also added that CrowdSec's unique strength lies in numbers and in applying a concerted, global approach to a global problem. Cybercriminals are outnumbered by tens of thousands to one by legitimate Internet users, all of whom can now join forces to protect themselves and each other.

At present, CrowdSec's community spans 175 countries, the software application hitting the 100,000 installations mark, with adopters including governments, major e-commerce actors, media and financial institutions. 

With this new funding, CrowdSec has plans to grow its team from 20 to 45 members, develop its technical stack, ramp up revenues, expand its U.S. operations and further grow its worldwide network of protected, collaborating machines from several hundred thousand to millions.

Maximilien Bacot, Founding Partner at Breega, said, "We backed CrowdSec in May 2021 because we strongly believe a global, communal approach to be the only truly effective way of dealing with rising levels of cybercrime. Just 17 months on, CrowdSec had grown their community by 3000% and identified and blocked over 7M malicious IPs used by cybercriminals to carry out attacks. An outstanding achievement that, alongside increasing global adoption figures, proves the relevance of their vision and approach. Breega is delighted to be a part of CrowdSec's incredible journey."