Please welcome Lockchain.ai, the AI-powered risk management platform for blockchain
Meet Lockchain, the latest addition to Lerer Hippeau’s portfolio.
HQ: Athens, GA
Founders: Aidan Kehoe and Andrew Howard
The problem: The world of blockchain and digital currencies is still in its infancy. Grasping the actual risks associated with trading cryptos is challenging — the unknown is in many ways still larger than the known. Traders, however, require precise insights into how vulnerabilities and changes to the underlying security of an asset they hold might impact their wider portfolio. Not only are they dealing with an increasingly overwhelming amount of information, but the accelerating speed of the crypto industry requires that they have the capabilities to process that information rapidly and take immediate action. The obstacles to risk management and the timely identification of vulnerabilities came into stark relief following the collapse of FTX, and the ongoing ripple effects continue to demonstrate just how necessary it is to have adequate risk solutions in place.
Lockchain.ai’s solution: Lockchain.ai is a SaaS platform that delivers always-on due diligence and risk monitoring for asset managers and traders seeking real-time security status of the assets they trade. This includes the examination of custodians and counterparties who are involved with the portfolio to provide a comprehensive assessment of risks and to help traders make informed decisions at scale. Lockchain.ai also enables asset managers to reconcile on- and off-chain balances, a key compliance concern for many as Bitcoin ETFs come online. The company is uniquely leveraging generative AI to bring speed, scalability, transparency, and security in order to help the rapidly evolving business of digital asset management avoid or navigate future black swan events. This end-to-end use of generative AI is fundamental to the platform’s ability to rapidly consume and analyze thousands of data sources from web3 and web2 sources, and to provide, among other things, predictive impact analysis of contagion risk and an automation engine to respond to events with pre-built playbooks and exit strategies.
Origin story: Prior to launching Lockchain.ai, Andrew Howard served as the CEO of Kudelski Security, and Aidan Kehoe was the founder and CEO of Skout Cybersecurity, which was acquired in 2022 by Barracuda. Recognizing a need in the market for a security platform (there are virtually no safeguards in place at present, and lots of bad actors), Andrew and Aidan founded Lockchain.ai with a simple mission: to bring easy-to-use, effective security solutions to businesses leveraging blockchain technology. The company’s emergence from stealth after a year of development marks a significant milestone in their efforts to define a new category of security for blockchain assets. Both Andrew and Aidan are fueled by a commitment to addressing the challenges and complexities of this ever-evolving landscape.
Why we’re betting on it: While there has been plenty of hand-wringing over the collapse of FTX, few companies have actually stood up to provide solutions to the massive gaps in security and transparency in crypto. Crypto assets are complexly interconnected and their inherent volatility and regulatory uncertainty underscore the critical need for effective risk mitigation strategies. Lockchain.ai has developed the world’s first AI-powered risk management platform for blockchain, capable of transforming the unique challenges presented by crypto into straightforward and actionable insights. Aidan and Andrew are veteran security professionals who, over years, have gained the trust and backing of industry leaders from across cybersecurity, application security, digital currency, and blockchain. As first movers, we believe the Lockchain.ai team is positioned at the vanguard of the emerging category of risk management in the digital asset ecosystem.
Our take: As we thought about the range of pain points across the blockchain sector, it became clear to us that security and risk management were going majorly unaddressed. The platform that Aidan, Andrew and their team have built will revolutionize the way firms do business across crypto and the larger blockchain ecosystem. With AI powering their platform, Lockchain.ai is now the only BRM product in the market with the requisite speed and results to keep clients in this sector safe. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the Lockchain.ai team as they work to transform risk management for digital currencies and help advance the development of blockchain economies.
Further reading: “Introducing Lockchain.ai, the First AI-Powered Blockchain Risk Management Platform” via Lockchain
