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Events / Business / Hacktron Raises $2.9M Pre-Seed
Business funding round

Hacktron Raises $2.9M Pre-Seed

Analysis based on 8 articles · First reported May 13, 2026 · Last updated May 15, 2026

Sentiment
70
Attention
4
Articles
8
Market Impact
Direct
Live prominence charts, article sentiment distribution, and event development timeline available on the NewsDesk Dashboard
Market Impact

The successful pre-seed funding round for Hacktron signals investor confidence in AI-powered cybersecurity solutions, potentially driving further investment and innovation in the sector. The company's ability to identify vulnerabilities in widely used software could influence market demand for advanced security testing platforms, impacting companies like BeyondTrust, Vercel, Cloudflare, Microsoft — GitHub, and GitLab CI/CD to enhance their security measures.

Cybersecurity Software Development Venture Capital
Event Summary

Hacktron, a cybersecurity startup founded by elite hackers Zayne Zhang, Mohan Pedhapati, and Harsh Jaiswal, announced it has raised $2.9 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Live Oak Venture Partners, with participation from Project Europe, VSR Ventures Private Limited, Plug and Play Tech Center, Cambridge Enterprise, and Overlook Ventures. Hacktron is developing an AI-powered platform for continuous software vulnerability testing, aiming to address the increasing speed of AI-accelerated attacks. The company has already identified and disclosed critical vulnerabilities in software used by Fortune 500 companies, including BeyondTrust Remote Support, and platforms like Vercel (Next.js), Cloudflare, Microsoft — GitHub, and GitLab CI/CD. Hacktron also performed security testing for Perplexity AI and Supabase. The new funding will be used to expand the engineering and security research team, accelerate product development, and scale go-to-market efforts. Team member Fabian Fässler's large YouTube following provides a direct channel to developers and security practitioners.

Key Actions
100 Hacktron raised funding
80 Live Oak Venture Partners led funding round Hacktron
60 Hacktron uncovered vulnerabilities
50 Hacktron performed security testing
30 Project Europe participated in funding Hacktron
30 VSR Ventures Private Limited participated in funding Hacktron
30 Plug and Play Tech Center participated in funding Hacktron
30 Overlook Ventures participated in funding Hacktron
Entities Involved
oth
Hacktron
Hacktron, a cybersecurity startup, successfully raised $2.9 million in pre-seed funding, which will be used to expand its team, accelerate product development, and scale go-to-market efforts. This funding validates its AI-powered platform for continuous security testing.
Importance 100 Sentiment 75
priv
Live Oak Venture Partners
Live Oak Venture Partners led the pre-seed funding round for Hacktron, demonstrating its investment in innovative cybersecurity solutions and potentially benefiting from Hacktron's future growth.
Importance 80 Sentiment 60
per
Zayne Zhang
Zayne Zhang is a co-founder of Hacktron and a key figure in the company's vision to bring AI-powered security testing to modern development.
Importance 70 Sentiment 70
per
Mohan Pedhapati
Mohan Pedhapati is a co-founder of Hacktron, contributing to the company's expertise in competitive hacking and real-world vulnerability discovery.
Importance 50 Sentiment 60
per
Harsh Jaiswal
Harsh Jaiswal is a co-founder of Hacktron, bringing competitive hacking experience to the company's mission of enhancing software security.
Importance 50 Sentiment 60
oth
Project Europe
Project Europe participated in Hacktron's pre-seed funding round, investing in the cybersecurity startup.
Importance 30 Sentiment 50
priv
VSR Ventures Private Limited
VSR Ventures Private Limited participated in Hacktron's pre-seed funding round, showing support for the cybersecurity startup. Vercel's Next.js framework has also been a platform where Hacktron identified vulnerabilities.
Importance 30 Sentiment 50
priv
Plug and Play Tech Center
Plug and Play Tech Center participated in Hacktron's pre-seed funding round, contributing to the startup's capital.
Importance 30 Sentiment 50
priv
Overlook Ventures
Overlook Ventures participated in Hacktron's pre-seed funding round, supporting the growth of the cybersecurity startup.
Importance 30 Sentiment 50
per
Fabian Fässler
Fabian Fässler, a team member at Hacktron, has a significant YouTube following, providing Hacktron with a direct channel to developers and security practitioners.
Importance 20 Sentiment 50
priv
BeyondTrust
Hacktron identified and disclosed vulnerabilities in BeyondTrust Remote Support software, highlighting potential security risks for its users.
Importance 10 Sentiment 0
stock
Cloudflare
Hacktron identified and disclosed vulnerabilities in frameworks and infrastructure used by Cloudflare, indicating potential security concerns for the company's operations.
Importance 10 Sentiment 0
subs
Microsoft — GitHub
Hacktron identified and disclosed vulnerabilities in Microsoft — GitHub's developer platform, suggesting potential security issues for its users.
Importance 10 Sentiment 0
priv
Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI had security testing performed by Hacktron, utilizing Hacktron's AI-driven approach to identify vulnerabilities.
Importance 10 Sentiment 0
priv
Supabase
Supabase had security testing performed by Hacktron, benefiting from Hacktron's AI-driven platform to uncover vulnerabilities.
Importance 10 Sentiment 0
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