**Olympix Secures $4.3 Million in Seed Funding to Enhance Crypto Security**
New York-based startup Olympix has announced the successful completion of a $4.3 million seed round, led by Boldstart Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from Robot Ventures, Shrug Capital, Blockdaemon’s Konstantin Richter, and Gauntlet Networks’ Tarun Chitra.
Olympix, founded by Channi Greenwall, is a cybersecurity software company focused on the crypto industry. Its primary product enables developers to identify vulnerabilities in their code. In a recent interview with Fortune, Greenwall compared the current state of crypto security to Web2 a decade ago. At that time, many companies lacked a chief security officer and spent relatively small amounts on security, compared to the over $200 billion spent in 2023.
Greenwall emphasized that security becomes a significant concern only after innovation takes place. Drawing attention to the challenges faced by the crypto ecosystem in 2022, she highlighted the $3.7 billion loss incurred through DeFi hacks and exploits. According to a new report by TRM Labs, the transparent nature of crypto and the immutability of blockchain contribute to its larger attack surface. Hackers can easily identify vulnerabilities by examining publicly available code and the “total volume locked” in different projects.
To mitigate these risks, many crypto firms rely on third-party audits, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Olympix aims to shift more responsibility to developers by providing software that identifies potential vulnerabilities and exploits in their code. Greenwall stressed that security should be a fundamental concern for enterprise-level crypto companies, and they should have dedicated internal security teams alongside a CTO.
Olympix is currently conducting an alpha test of its static analyzer, which employs a proprietary large language model (LLM) to identify vulnerabilities. The product is currently being used by 30 companies. With the seed funding, Olympix plans to expand its security offerings beyond the static analyzer and enhance its LLM capabilities. The company aspires to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for anomaly detection.
Tarun Chitra, an investor in Olympix and founder of Gauntlet Networks, praised Greenwall’s use of natural language processing to identify software bugs. He noted that Greenwall had this vision even before language models gained widespread recognition in the previous year. Chitra highlighted Greenwall’s extensive security background and the time she spent exploring automation problems.
Eliot Durbin, the general partner at Boldstart, explained that his firm decided to invest in Olympix due to Greenwall’s experience at Security Scorecard, a Web2 cybersecurity company. He also noted the lack of comparable solutions available in the market. Durbin believes that enhancing crypto security and reducing hacks will make blockchain more appealing for mainstream applications. He acknowledged Olympix’s contribution in enabling smart contract developers to write more secure code at an accelerated pace, which ultimately expands the overall crypto ecosystem.
In conclusion, Olympix’s successful seed funding round enables the company to advance crypto security and empower developers in identifying vulnerabilities. The startup’s focus on shifting responsibility to developers aligns with the growing recognition of the significance of security in the crypto industry. By leveraging advanced technologies like large language models and AI, Olympix aims to enhance anomaly detection and further bolster crypto security.
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