Innerworks, a cybersecurity startup in London specializing in Synthetic Threat Intelligence, has secured a €3.7 million ($4 million) seed funding round to advance its AI-driven fraud detection platform. The round, led by AlbionVC, included investments from Digital Currency Group, Founders Capital, Firestreak Ventures, NVTBL Ventures, Metaversal Ventures, and executives from Citi, UBS, Coinbase, Checkout.com, Apple, and Crypto.com.
Founded by Oliver Quie (CEO), Oscar Hayek (CTO), and Tom Ryan (Chief Product Officer), Innerworks’ platform can detect AI-generated synthetic interactions with 97% accuracy. The technology has been successfully utilized in safeguarding national infrastructure, collaborating with top digital asset platforms, and probing major cryptocurrency hacks.
“We’re facing AI-powered deception that can mimic legitimate users with frightening accuracy. Existing security companies have become obsolete because they assume threats will behave differently than legitimate users. Our platform solves this problem using Synthetic Threat Intelligence and decentralized training to defend against even the most sophisticated AI-based attacks,” stated Oliver Quie, CEO of Innerworks.
In 2024, nearly €184 billion was lost to bot-related attacks. Much of internet traffic is now driven by automation tools rather than humans, and fraud attempts using deepfakes have surged by over 2,000% since 2022. Innerworks’ platform differentiates true human behavior from almost perfect AI imitations, aiming to be the internet’s immune system.
Central to Innerworks’ solution is RedTeam, a crypto-bounty programme enlisting ethical hackers and AI agents globally to stress-test the system and find vulnerabilities. This approach provides dynamic, real-world data to bolster the platform’s defenses.
The technology easily integrates into client applications with minimal code and operates silently, already adopted by major digital assets and payments firms. Innerworks’ system has been deployed to identify malicious activity linked to a €1.38 billion hack by North Korean operatives.
“Having now proven our approach alongside global brands, we feel Innerworks is well-positioned to become core security infrastructure for the wider internet, helping to protect user ecosystems online,” added Oliver Quie.
The seed funding will enhance Innerworks’ platform capabilities, especially in adversarial AI training, and boost its global expansion. The company also plans to create new partnerships with leading financial institutions to combat rising synthetic threats.
“We invested in Innerworks because they’re not incrementally improving fraud detection, they’re fundamentally reimagining it. Their ability to detect what other systems miss represents an essential new security layer for the financial sector’s response to this new threat landscape,” said Cat Mcdonald, Partner at AlbionVC.