Singapore-based cybersecurity company Blackpanda has raised $15m for its Series A, which was co-led by Primavera Venture Partners and Gaw Capital Partners.

With the capital, Blackpanda plans to expand its technology-enabled cybersecurity services, including digital forensics and incident response. The CyberTech will also continue the development of its AI and machine learning cybersecurity InsurTech platform.

Finally, Blackpanda is looking to deepen its presence in Asia. It currently has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila, and San Francisco.

WI Harper, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, also joined the round.

The CyberTech offers a digital forensics and cyber incident response service. It will help identify, prioritise and contain attacks so companies can minimise damage and respond more effectively to future incidents.

Its features include cyber incident response, compromise assessment, loss adjusting and investigations, digital forensics, and incident response preparation.

Blackpanda co-founder Gene Yu explained, “Cyber-crime caused a staggering $1trn plus in losses in 2020 and is rapidly climbing in Asia. Nearly half of all Singapore businesses suffered a cyber-attack in 2021. The first step to cybersecurity is to make sure a response-based plan is in place prior to a sudden hack.

“A business owner wouldn’t open a physical office without any access to firefighters. Yet chances of a fire are only 1 out of 2000 for businesses, while a cyber-attack is an incredible 1 out of 5.”

Blackpanda was founded by Gene Yu, Matt Pecot and Kevin McCaffrey, all of whom served in the US Army Special Forces.

Primavera founding member and managing director Philip Hu added, “Cyber security and cyber insurance are environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues. Cyber attacks present a huge risk to the value of companies and ultimately the stability of society.

“Blackpanda is leading the charge in Asia to help companies, in particular the largely underserved SME market, manage cyber security and cyber insurance as part of their ESG strategy.”

Another Singapore-based FinTech company to raise funds this month is actyv.ai. The BNPL platform raised $12m for its pre-Series A.