Hacktron Secures $2.9 Million Pre-Seed Round to Scale AI-Driven Continuous Security Testing

Hacktron is an AI-driven cybersecurity startup focused on continuous security testing for modern software development, and this weekly recap highlights its latest financing and growth milestones. The company raised $2.9 million in pre-seed funding to advance its platform, which embeds attacker-style, AI-enabled security checks directly into development workflows and aims to replace traditional, periodic penetration testing models.

The round was led by Crane Venture Partners with participation from several venture and strategic investors across Europe and the U.S., providing capital to scale engineering, security research, and go-to-market efforts. Hacktron’s founders, elite competitive hackers with DEF CON Capture the Flag wins and Black Hat experience, bring strong credibility in offensive security and are positioning the platform as a key control in an era of AI-accelerated software development and cyberattacks.

In its first nine months, Hacktron has generated about $240,000 in revenue and demonstrated real-world impact by identifying critical vulnerabilities in widely used software such as the OAuth2 Proxy project and in testing environments for high-growth technology companies. Customers including Perplexity AI and Supabase underscore early market traction and validate demand for continuous, automated security testing embedded in the software delivery lifecycle.

The company also plans to leverage a large built-in audience through team member Fabian Faessler’s near-million-subscriber YouTube channel, using technical research content and vulnerability case studies to educate developers and security teams. This content-driven approach could accelerate adoption by raising awareness of AI-accelerated threats while highlighting Hacktron’s attacker-style testing capabilities as part of modern Application Security (AppSec) programs.

Taken together, the new pre-seed capital, early revenue, high-profile vulnerability discoveries, and strategic use of community channels position Hacktron to scale its AI-driven platform and deepen its role in continuous security for software teams. The week marked a significant funding and validation milestone for Hacktron as it builds out its product and market presence in the cybersecurity landscape.