Unit 221B has secured $5m in seed funding to advance its mission of transforming intelligence into real-world crime prevention.
The round was led by J2 Ventures with support from Pipeline Capital and other undisclosed investors.
The New York-based company specialises in delivering actionable threat intelligence and cybersecurity solutions, aiming to accelerate investigations and disrupt criminal networks through collaboration between enterprises, law enforcement, and governments. Its flagship platform, eWitness, is already trusted by more than 50 Fortune 500 companies and agencies worldwide, including international, federal, and local law enforcement bodies.
With the fresh capital, Unit 221B plans to enhance its platform with new tools and features that speed up investigative collaboration, while also investing in broader go-to-market strategies. The company said this will help to scale adoption and strengthen the effectiveness of its ecosystem.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of escalating cybercrime. The World Economic Forum has warned that the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure and advances in artificial intelligence are enabling more sophisticated and frequent attacks. Criminal groups are exploiting not only critical sectors like financial institutions, telecommunications, and transport but also everyday platforms including social media, online gaming, FinTech tools, and delivery apps.
Unit 221B CEO May Chen-Contino said, “These companies not only face financial loss and the risk of real-world harm to their employees and users, but are now in the spotlight for regulatory actions, lawsuits, and reputational damage in a landscape that demands faster, more effective responses. Collective action has the power to change outcomes. We are uniting investigators across enterprises, law enforcement, and governments to create a safer online and offline world. The only way to disrupt these criminal networks is by working together.”
The scale of the problem is highlighted by FBI statistics showing that in 2024 alone, 859,532 cybercrime complaints were filed, totalling $16.6bn in losses — a 33% rise on the year before. Financial sextortion surged to almost 100 reports per day, and violent online group exploitation rose by 200% across the year. Some of the most active criminal groups, such as Scattered Spider and its subgroup 764, have become so prolific that the FBI now categorises them as a Tier One terrorist threat.
Christine Keung, general partner at J2 Ventures, said, “Unit 221B is solving a real pain point that many cybersecurity vendors overlook or are unable to solve. With experience in supporting federal prosecution, military cyber operations, Fortune 500 security teams and leadership, and world-renowned threat research, the Unit 221B team is uniquely equipped to expose and dismantle some of the most notorious online criminal groups. They support arrests and civil actions on behalf of global clients within the public and private sectors. They’re the missing puzzle piece in threat disruption and attribution. It’s a paradigm shift in this market, and we’re thrilled to support them.”
The company’s eWitness platform blends human intelligence with digital tools to gather, manage, and preserve high-value threat data, even if removed from its original source. The network is invite-only, with strict vetting processes to maintain quality and trust.
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