Bug Bounty platform Immunefi raises US$5.5 million in seed funding

Singapore-based crypto startup Immunefi that helps DeFi (decentralized finance) projects protocols launch bug bounty programs on its platform, has secured US$5.5 million in a seed funding round.

The funding round was co-led by Blueprint Forest and Electric Capital with Bitscale, Framework Ventures, IDEO Colab, Framework Ventures, North Island Ventures, BR Capital, and The LAO also participating among other investors.

The fresh funding will help Immunefi to scale its operations. According to Mitchell Amador, founder and CEO Immunefi, “We will continue acquiring cutting-edge security tech and building the most elite emergency response team in the industry,” said Amador. “We are especially interested in building vulnerability prediction technology and hacker tooling that makes it easier and easier to find vulnerabilities.”

Immunefi claims that its bug bounty platform for crypto projects and smart contracts allows security researchers to disclose vulnerabilities, review code, and get paid to do so. Besides that, companies can also access security talent through Immunefi’s platform.

Roy Learner, principal at Framework Ventures said: “This year, Immunefi succeeded in becoming DeFi’s leading bug bounty platform, gaining the trust of key industry players, and we are confident Immunefi is just getting started.”

DeFi attackers have stolen more than $400 million funds to data, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard. Immunefi has helped discover more than 3500 vulnerabilities to date, preventing more than $2 billion worth of hacks, said Amador.

About Immunefi

Founded in 2020, Immunefi is a vulnerability coordination platform that connects DeFi protocols with whitehat hackers. Traditional platforms like Bugcrowd and HackerOne are Immunefi’s competitors in this space, however, it is focused on the needs of DeFi sector, which is vulnerable to attacks and hacks.

Immunefi’s clients include SushiSwap, Chainlink, Compund, PancakeSwap, and more. It presently has more than $47 million worth of bounties available, and has paid out more than $7.5 million worth of bounties to date.

Earlier this month, for instance, Polygon, paid out a colossal $2 million bounty through Immunefi to a whitehat hacker who discovered a critical vulnerability in the protocol that put about $850 million of capital at risk.

The platform takes a 10 percent commission on top of any bounties paid out through the platform.

Immunefi is looking to expand its team of 34 to 100 people by the end of next year and the firm expects to raise more funds as soon as it is ready to decentralize its operations.