Why We Invested: CUBE3.AI

We are excited to announce our investment in CUBE3.AI, the web3 industry's first real-time transaction security platform.
Symbolic Capital
Aug 14, 2023
Announcements
Why We Invested: CUBE3.AI

We are excited to announce our investment in CUBE3.AI, the web3 industry's first real-time transaction security platform. CUBE3 is revolutionizing web3 security by transitioning from merely monitoring threats to actively blocking them before damage occurs. We couldn't be more proud to support this startup in creating a safer web3 for all.

The Project

In 2022, $1B was spent on web3 security, yet $4B was hacked. Although audits before deploying smart contracts are common, they aren't enough; contracts thoroughly checked for bugs and vulnerabilities still get hacked. You can purchase a monitoring solution that will alert you after you've been hacked, but by then, you're out of money, and the problem will have spiraled out of control.

Enter CUBE3.AI. CUBE3 is pioneering transaction security for web3, making smart contracts intelligent enough to evaluate every transaction before an exploit occurs. CUBE3 accomplishes this in three steps: detect, protect, and manage. First, they detect threats using AI before the attack by inspecting every contract deployed on-chain. Machine learning allows the model to become more intelligent with use. After detecting the threat, CUBE3's platform deploys a real-time security mechanism to halt the attack without pausing – legitimate transactions continue, while exploitative ones are stopped, a mechanism unseen in other current web3 security solutions. Lastly, the platform responds immediately to cyber risks through alerts and reports. CUBE3 has already established partnerships with recognized clients such as Google, Space and Time, and Primex, attesting to the product's success.

CUBE3's analysis of the recent Curve hack perfectly demonstrates the value that they can provide for the web3 industry. CUBE3’s ML detection actually caught the attacker contracts and flagged them as extremely high risk before the exploit was executed. Had the Curve team been using CUBE3’s tools, they would have been able to prevent their protocol from interacting with the malicious contracts. And this wasn’t the only major hack that CUBE3 caught. Their tools also caught the Euler exploit before nearly $200m was stolen. While these are some of the more high profile hacks that CUBE3 has detected, we know that every company needs a tool like this to ensure safety and responsibility when operating in crypto.

The Team

CUBE3’s powerhouse team consists of serial entrepreneurs, machine learning researchers, and seasoned blockchain engineers. Einaras Gravrock, the CEO of CUBE3, is one of the most impressive founders we have encountered. He has two successful cybersecurity exits under his belt - one to Oracle and one to Comcast. Chris Griffiths, CUBE3's CTO, is a leader in the internet security and architecture space, serving as a member of the Internet Task Force and ICANN in addition to engineering roles at multiple startups and Fortune 100 companies alike. Most importantly, Einaras and Chris previously built CUJO AI together, the business they eventually sold to Comcast. We firmly believe that no team is better suited to lead this project.

Financing

We are proud to participate in CUBE3.AI’s $8.2M Seed round alongside Blockchange Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Hypersphere Ventures, and others. Our investment in CUBE3 reaffirms our commitment to advancing the web3 ecosystem by embracing technologies that will make web3 safer and more accessible for all.

Learn more about CUBE3.AI here.

We are excited to announce our investment in CUBE3.AI, the web3 industry's first real-time transaction security platform. CUBE3 is revolutionizing web3 security by transitioning from merely monitoring threats to actively blocking them before damage occurs. We couldn't be more proud to support this startup in creating a safer web3 for all.

The Project

In 2022, $1B was spent on web3 security, yet $4B was hacked. Although audits before deploying smart contracts are common, they aren't enough; contracts thoroughly checked for bugs and vulnerabilities still get hacked. You can purchase a monitoring solution that will alert you after you've been hacked, but by then, you're out of money, and the problem will have spiraled out of control.

Enter CUBE3.AI. CUBE3 is pioneering transaction security for web3, making smart contracts intelligent enough to evaluate every transaction before an exploit occurs. CUBE3 accomplishes this in three steps: detect, protect, and manage. First, they detect threats using AI before the attack by inspecting every contract deployed on-chain. Machine learning allows the model to become more intelligent with use. After detecting the threat, CUBE3's platform deploys a real-time security mechanism to halt the attack without pausing – legitimate transactions continue, while exploitative ones are stopped, a mechanism unseen in other current web3 security solutions. Lastly, the platform responds immediately to cyber risks through alerts and reports. CUBE3 has already established partnerships with recognized clients such as Google, Space and Time, and Primex, attesting to the product's success.

CUBE3's analysis of the recent Curve hack perfectly demonstrates the value that they can provide for the web3 industry. CUBE3’s ML detection actually caught the attacker contracts and flagged them as extremely high risk before the exploit was executed. Had the Curve team been using CUBE3’s tools, they would have been able to prevent their protocol from interacting with the malicious contracts. And this wasn’t the only major hack that CUBE3 caught. Their tools also caught the Euler exploit before nearly $200m was stolen. While these are some of the more high profile hacks that CUBE3 has detected, we know that every company needs a tool like this to ensure safety and responsibility when operating in crypto.

The Team

CUBE3’s powerhouse team consists of serial entrepreneurs, machine learning researchers, and seasoned blockchain engineers. Einaras Gravrock, the CEO of CUBE3, is one of the most impressive founders we have encountered. He has two successful cybersecurity exits under his belt - one to Oracle and one to Comcast. Chris Griffiths, CUBE3's CTO, is a leader in the internet security and architecture space, serving as a member of the Internet Task Force and ICANN in addition to engineering roles at multiple startups and Fortune 100 companies alike. Most importantly, Einaras and Chris previously built CUJO AI together, the business they eventually sold to Comcast. We firmly believe that no team is better suited to lead this project.

Financing

We are proud to participate in CUBE3.AI’s $8.2M Seed round alongside Blockchange Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Hypersphere Ventures, and others. Our investment in CUBE3 reaffirms our commitment to advancing the web3 ecosystem by embracing technologies that will make web3 safer and more accessible for all.

Learn more about CUBE3.AI here.