Prominent Audit Firm CertiK Raises $60M Funds From SoftBank

• Blockchain security services have been a significant focus for venture capitalists.
• CertiK wants to make its security audits and verification solutions accessible to everyone.

In addition to the $290 million it has received in the last nine months, the unicorn blockchain security business CertiK has raised $60 million from SoftBank Vision Fund II and Tiger Global. Blockchain-native firms have a lot to gain from Web3, but they also have severe security weaknesses.

CertiK, a New York-based security solutions provider, can serve as a one-stop-shop for consumers because of its comprehensive suite of products. Code auditing, threat monitoring, and asset tracking are all available as products. In addition, new goods are presently being developed by the firm. Gu, a Columbia University computer science professor, and Yale University professor Zhong Shao developed the security service in 2018.

For new Web3 initiatives, finding security services might be difficult owing to a lack of vendors and the associated high prices. Including a small Web3 company, CertiK wants to make its security audits and verification solutions accessible to everyone.

Security Flaws Making Headlines

Tokens are being raised at a time when blockchain developers are driving growth in Web3 application development and developing new use cases for virtual ecosystems, notably in gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

Blockchain security services have been a significant focus for venture capitalists. Insight Partners, Tiger Global, and Advent International led the $88 million Series B3 investment round for CertiK earlier this month, which doubled the company’s worth to $2 billion. In addition, Sequoia led an $80 million fundraising round in December 2021.

The crypto business is no stranger to security flaws making headlines. ImmuneFi, a bug bounty program, said in January that DeFi hackers drained over $10.2 billion in 2021 alone, according to its analysis. In addition, Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge was breached earlier this month for over $600 million after the attackers gained access to validator nodes’ private keys.