Spain's CounterCraft raises $5 million for software that dupes attackers and gathers counterintelligence

CounterCraft, a Spanish software that detects attacks through cyber deception and counterintelligence, has raised $5 million in a round led by Adara Ventures, joined by eCapital and the Red Eléctrica Group. Existing investors Evolution Equity, ORZA and Wayra also participated.

The startup’s Threat Deception Platform includes a suite of solutions that deceive cyberattackers into decoy architectures, then record all the data about how, what, when and where attackers tried to penetrate a client’s system. The company describes its approach as “proactive defense”. “By luring intruders into a digital twin of your companies' IT infrastructure, the quality of intelligence gathered increases tremendously, says Dirk Seewald of eCapital.

CEO David Barroso explained further: “The platform gathers high-quality intelligence through assets such as WiFi, SWIFT, email accounts and social media. Uniquely, the platform can automatically convert this harvested data into proactive responses.” Barroso formerly led the security division at Telefonica.

“Nothing else we have seen effectively uses a Know-Your-Attacker stance to turn the tables on threat actors,” says Alberto Gomez, managing partner at Adara. “We are now excited about CounterCraft’s prospects for expanding its presence with sophisticated, large clients in the U.S. and European markets.”

The company serves clients across Western Europe and North America, particularly national defense and intelligence departments, financial institutions and enterprises. Founded in 2015, the business is headquartered in San Sebastian with offices in Madrid and London.