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StealthMole, an AI-powered dark web intelligence startup that specializes in monitoring cyber threats and detecting cybercrime, announced Thursday that it has raised a $7 million Series A funding round.

The Singapore-headquartered startup with an R&D office in South Korea will use the fresh capital to establish additional R&D centers and support more commercial uses of its technology in the B2B sector and geographical expansion.

“Having an R&D office in South Korea allows us to gain critical insights into how hackers from East Asia operate,” Simon Choi, chief technology officer (CTO) at StealthMole, told TechCrunch. “Similarly, having researchers from various backgrounds in Singapore for Southeast Asia, or in other unique locations, will aid us in analyzing data related to neighboring countries.”

StealthMole was co-founded in 2022 by Louis Hur (CEO), an enterprise IT security expert and serial entrepreneur in cybersecurity, and Choi (CTO), a threat investigator and open source intelligence (OSINT) profiler who previously worked as an adviser for the National Intelligence Service South Korea, the National Police Agency, and the Ministry of National Defense in South Korea.

The startup serves over 50 clients across 17 countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Its current customer base mostly includes government and law enforcement agencies for national security and cybersecurity teams within enterprises, which manage cybersecurity incidents, analyze threats, and provide cybersecurity guidance and support.

“StealthMole came about from a critical market gap I encountered while working in cybersecurity and white-hat hacking: a severe lack of data points and information networks, specifically within Asia,” Hur said in the company’s statement. “At the same time, data leaks, anonymized transactions, and all manner of cybercrimes were spiking — both due to malicious intent and human error. To better understand digital threats, it’s crucial for law enforcement, intelligence agencies, corporate security teams, and cybersecurity experts to analyse regional contexts and their impact on illicit activities.”

The outfit says it traces criminals using 255 billion analyzed data points from the dark web, deep web and various hidden sources, including leaked databases, cybercriminals’ blogs and Telegram.

One differentiator from its competitors in the cybersecurity industry is its unique expertise in Asia-related threats, Kevin Yoo, chief operating officer (COO) at StealthMole, told TechCrunch. According to a report by Check Point Research, Asia witnessed the highest year-on-year surge in weekly cyberattacks in the first quarter of 2023 due to rapid digital transformation; the rise of the hybrid workforce and Asia’s manufacturing industry, like semiconductors that hold intellectual property, could be a target for cyber espionage.

“The high demand for Asia-oriented threat information underscores the uniqueness and value of our dataset for customers worldwide, within and beyond Asia,” Yoo said. 

Korea Investment Partners led the Series A round with participation from Hibiscus Fund (a joint venture between RHL Ventures, Penjana Kapital and KB Investment) and Smilegate Investment.