Texas-based startup Halcyon has raised $50m in Series A funding to develop an AI-driven cyber resilience platform designed to tackle ransomware and data-extortion attacks. The funding round was led by SYN Ventures, a cybersecurity-focused investment firm.
The platform uses an AI model trained specifically to identify and prevent ransomware and offers a multi-layered approach to defeat threats. It combines pre-execution ransomware prevention with AI/ML engines to detect and block known bad executables, while passing on suspicious executables for further analysis.
Furthermore, Halcyon’s technology is designed to trick ransomware into aborting or revealing the attack by using features hardcoded in the ransomware itself. Co-founder and CEO Jon Miller said Halcyon was built to “embrace failure as a core concept of protection”.
The company will use the investment to accelerate development of the anti-ransomware engine and grow adoption of the cyber resilience platform. The investment round included equity from Corner Capital and Dell Technologies Capital.
At the same time, ransomware is increasingly becoming a major threat to businesses, and companies have had to adapt and improve their defences against such attacks. Halcyon’s funding comes amid an ongoing wave of high-profile cyberattacks on organisations worldwide, leading to growing demand for cybersecurity services.
Additionally, the latest funding for Halcyon is expected to contribute to the startup’s efforts to prevent future attacks and help organisations protect themselves against cyber threats.
