Cyber risk intelligence start-up iCOUNTER, which delivers targeted cyber threat insights to organisations, has officially launched after operating in stealth mode for five years.
The company has emerged with a $30m Series A funding round, led by SYN Ventures. The investment supports iCOUNTER’s mission to help businesses counter increasingly sophisticated cyber threats driven by artificial intelligence.
Founded by cybersecurity pioneer John Watters, iCOUNTER focuses on precision risk intelligence. Its platform is designed to detect, deflect and defeat highly tailored cyberattacks aimed at specific organisations and their broader ecosystems. The company aims to close the intelligence gap left by traditional threat reporting, which is often reactive and based on past incidents.
With the new capital, iCOUNTER plans to scale its operations and technology, continuing the development of its AI-powered risk intelligence tools. These tools are built to address the growing trend of AI-enabled attackers using advanced profiling and exploiting zero-day tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) tailored to each target’s environment.
iCOUNTER’s platform has been in development for five years, during which time it has built a robust infrastructure and refined its intelligence processes. According to the company, the rise of AI has accelerated the ability of adversaries to launch targeted campaigns with unprecedented speed and precision, making traditional defences increasingly obsolete.
iCOUNTER CEO and managing partner John Watters said, “We are in the dawn of a new era of cybersecurity. Traditional methods will increasingly fail, and defenders will be forced to reimagine their defenses against a flood of targeted operations that leverage AI to generate new and novel TTPs. Traditional threat intelligence is designed to report on threats that have been seen before in an age where an increasing number of targets will be Patient Zero.”
Watters previously served as president and COO of Mandiant, which was sold to FireEye and later acquired by Google. He has also worked as a venture partner at SYN Ventures and Americas Frontier Fund, and sits on the boards of several cybersecurity firms including Apollo and Mitiga. His return as CEO marks a new chapter in his mission to tackle advanced cyber threats.
SYN Ventures managing partner and founder Jay Leek said, “iCOUNTER has built the only intelligence capability exclusively focused on countering targeted attacks. Their unique approach positions them well in an age of AI-enabled adversaries.”
Chris Kissel, research director at IDC’s Security and Trust Products Group, added, “The strategy of providing dedicated threat intelligence to address threats mapped against individual companies’ specific gaps and vulnerabilities is a service that is desperately needed. iCOUNTER’s unique approach will likely become invaluable to sensitive organizations and systems.”
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