Netacea secures additional £4m funding to enhance bot attack defences

Netacea, a Manchester-based cybersecurity specialist, has successfully secured an additional £4 million from Mercia Asset Management and the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF). This investment will support the expansion of Netacea’s AI roadmap, enhance its product offerings, and facilitate ongoing growth.

The company, which specialises in protecting businesses from online fraud through bot attack mitigation, aims to use this funding to tackle the escalating threat posed by ‘offensive AI’. Netacea’s advanced, fifth-generation AI-driven platform is capable of detecting and preventing live attacks that might elude other cybersecurity products and provides early warnings of potential future threats.

Netacea has introduced an open-source framework known as BLADE, which comprehensively maps every stage of an attack, from the initial planning stages by criminals to the eventual sale of stolen goods or information. This framework is rapidly becoming a standard among business security teams, and Netacea is actively developing solutions to address all aspects of the attack process.

Founded in 2022 as a spin-out from Intechnica Holdings, Netacea has continued to grow under the partial ownership of Mercia and NPIF following Intechnica’s sale to Crosslake Technologies.

The company currently employs around 60 staff and serves a clientele that includes some of the world’s leading online retailers and major brands. With a revenue increase of 29% in the last financial year ending March 2024, Netacea is poised for further expansion.

Mick Bradley, CEO of Netacea, stated: “The cost of online fraud is rising at an alarming rate and with the growth of e-commerce and adoption of offensive AI, is estimated to reach $7.95 trillion by 2027. Solving this problem is not only about stopping attacks, but also understanding the intent, planning and execution. Netacea’s industry-leading threat Intelligence, along with our AI-driven intent-based analytics tools, enables us to identify and stop significantly more bot attacks than traditional methods. This latest funding will enable us to accelerate product development and further extend our AI.”

Angela Warner from Mercia added: “Netacea has become a thought leader in its field and Mercia is pleased to have been able to play a key role in its success, and that of Intechnica from which it arose. This investment will enable it to continue its growth. It also reinforces Mercia’s position as a leading cyber security investor. Our portfolio companies are addressing critical challenges across the security spectrum – from bot detection and threat intelligence to digital forensics and supply chain risk management. The sustained interest we are seeing in this sector validates our early conviction in these technologies, and we continue to actively evaluate opportunities in this space.”

Image source: Netacea