Crowdsourced IT security startup CrowdCurity has raised $1m in seed funding as part of a new investment round led by high-profile bitcoin investor Tim Draper and Kima Ventures.
Notably, part of the investment provided by Cryptonaut Ventures was made directly with bitcoin and settled into USD using bitcoin exchange services provided by Vaurum – a CrowdCurity client and graduate of Boost VC’s incubator program.
Sophos Chief Technology Officer Gerhard Eschelbeck, Cyphort cofounder Dr Fengmin Gong and Mountain View-based incubator 500 Startups were also among the round’s strategic investors.
CrowdCurity CEO Jacob Hansen framed the announcement as one that validates his company’s novel approach to web security, saying:
“We are tired of security being something for enterprises and consultants in grey suits. It’s time to put some Web 2.0 into security, and show the people on the other end.”
The company will use the investment to expand its crowdsourced security marketplace and continue to democratize it, making it affordable and accessible to all businesses, not just large corporations with big security budgets.
Bitcoin-friendly business
CrowdCurity is a first-of-its-kind platform that connects businesses with vetted security researchers through bug bounty programs.
It currently performs security testing for major bitcoin companies such as Vaurum, Vault of Satoshi, Blockchain and BitGo, and has seen an increasing amount of adoption from other digital currency businesses – about 50 to date, according to Hansen.
So far, CrowdCurity has enrolled 1,200 security researchers and has completed 90 bug bounty programs.
Security researchers go through a vetting process with know your customer (KYC) protocols. CrowdCurity pays them in bitcoin, and clients pay CrowdCurity with bitcoin or credit card.
Draper’s latest move
Although the round includes a number of significant investors, none is perhaps more visible in the bitcoin ecosystem than Tim Draper.
The winner of the recent US Marshals auction of 30,000 BTC, Draper is also the father of industry venture capitalist and founder of Boost VC Adam Draper, of which CrowdCurity’s founding members Esben Friis-Jensen, Christian Hansen, Jacob Hansen and Jakob Storm are alums.
Tim Draper began publicly supporting bitcoin last year following the announcement that his Silicon Valley university, Draper University of Heroes, would accept bitcoin. Draper has since backed bitcoin startups Vaurum and BitPagos, and mentors Boost VC which has pledged to fund 100 bitcoin startup companies over the next three years.
Web security image via Shutterstock