Web3 Startup Unveils Scam Prevention Tool and Raises $7M in Seed Funding

Web3 Builders, a new Web3 startup, bagged $7 million in seed funding from Road Capital, OpenSea Ventures, and other investors. The startup also announced the launch of its first offering, TrustCheck, which aims to make web3 a safer space.

OpenSea-backed Startup Web3 Builders Complete a $7M Oversubscribed Funding Round

Web3 Builders secured $7 million in a seed funding round led by Road Capital. Other investors that participated in the round include OpenSea Ventures, Sparkle Ventures, Greylock, and Global Founders Capital, among others.

In addition to the funding, Web3 Builders also announced the rollout of its first product called TrustCheck – a free Chrome extension that seeks to detect and prevent potential scams for those that use and trade cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and NFTs. TrustCheck notifies users when it detects high-risk transactions, allowing them to cancel them before falling prey to scams.

“TrustCheck automatically warns users when they attempt to go to known phishing sites, or it detects the presence of wallet drainer code,” said Riccardo Pellegrini, CEO of Web3 Builders and a former executive at Amazon Web Services. TrustCheck utilizes machine learning (ML) technology and a number of on-chain and off-chain data sources to identify risky activities.

“When we think about the next billion users adopting crypto, you have to take these really powerful concepts, and these powerful engines under the hood, and create really simple and easy-to-understand user experiences.”

– Ricky Pellegrini, CEO of Web3 Builders

The funding round was oversubscribed as Web3 Builders originally planned to raise $5 million. The startup intends to use the funding to continue developing its products, expand its artificial intelligence (AI) and ML methods, as well as expand its team.

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Scam Prevention Solution in a Year of Scams

Web3 Builders launched its scam prevention tool amid a critical period for the crypto industry, which has been plagued with hacks and exploits in 2022. Several major crypto firms have been hacked in the recent period including Binance, crypto market maker Wintermute, Babylon Finance, and more.

Additionally, the timing of the launch also coincides with a major crunch in the NFT market, which has seen a sales drop of 68% in Q3 year-over-year. The decline comes due to a significant sell-off in the broader crypto market amid a tough macroeconomic environment.

Despite the crypto winter, many major players have entered the web3 market over the past few months, betting on the industry’s long-term prospects. Those include fashion giant HUGO, Tencent Cloud, Konami, and more.

Do you plan to give TrustCheck a try? Let us know your first impression in the comments below.

About the author

Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird’s US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.