Catenaa, Wednesday, April 16, 2025-San Francisco-based startup Octane has raised $6.7 million in funding to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the blockchain industry, a sector increasingly plagued by hacking. Led by CEO Giovanni Vignone, the startup aims to leverage artificial intelligence to help developers detect and fix vulnerabilities in real time. Octane integrates with the GitHub pipeline, continuously auditing code and flagging potential risks as developers work.
The blockchain industry has been a frequent target for cybercriminals, with an estimated $2.2 billion stolen in 2024 alone. By early 2025, losses have almost matched that figure, highlighting the growing urgency for better security tools. Despite substantial investments in security, such as annual budgets of $50,000 to $200,000 for securing codebases, the number of hacks continues to rise.
Octane’s AI-powered tool specifically focuses on the Solidity programming language and Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible projects, with plans to expand to other blockchains like Solana. The company’s recent funding round was led by Winklevoss Capital, along with notable crypto investors including Archetype, Druid Ventures, and Circle.
Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, praised Octane’s platform for its potential to secure crypto applications. The startup aims to redefine security practices in blockchain development by offering developers an AI-driven security engineer to identify vulnerabilities and improve code security. Octane’s long-term goal is to prevent hacks by integrating security directly into the development process.
The funding round and new tools come at a critical time as blockchain platforms struggle to fend off rising cyber threats.
