Crowd Threat, a platform that mobilises security professionals across 17 countries to report on geopolitical risks, has closed a £1 million funding round led by Michael McCabe, its founder and a veteran of British military intelligence. The service aggregates incident reports from local contributors—covering armed conflict, terrorism, civil unrest and organised crime—then applies AI verification and human review to validate submissions.
Organisations ranging from government agencies to large corporations are increasingly turning to intelligence platforms to monitor geopolitical and security threats affecting their international operations and supply chains. Crowd Threat's approach differs markedly from conventional intelligence gathering, which typically relies on analysts working from desks and consuming published information and data feeds. Instead, the platform compensates local contributors in their respective countries for reporting incidents, with credibility assessments feeding into a verification pipeline that combines algorithmic and human judgment.
McCabe brings over two decades of experience in intelligence positions within the British armed forces and private security operations in Iraq. He launched Crowd Threat in 2025 after previously founding Intelligence Fusion, a software-based intelligence firm that Sigma7 acquired in 2022. Working alongside Newcastle-based developer Wubbleyou, the platform went live in June with more than 200 contributors operating across 17 countries spanning six continents.
The company plans to deploy the capital towards significantly expanding its contributor network, with ambitions to reach 10,000 contributors, with emphasis on regions including Africa, South America and Asia. The funding will also support hiring for seven new roles and development of an additional product aimed at identifying emerging community tensions to provide early signals of potential riots and violent incidents.
McCabe traced the inspiration for the venture to his experiences in Iraq, where security professionals exchanged intelligence via internet-based communities. He described the insight:
If an explosive device went off in the morning, by the end of the day we would know all the background. I came away thinking, why can't we tap into local networks around the world?
Michael McCabe, CEO of Crowd Threat
Technology now allows us to threats on a global scale. Using local people who understand the language and culture means we can report incidents more quickly and identify threats Western analysts may miss.
Michael McCabe, CEO of Crowd Threat
Backing came from the North East Accelerate Fund, operated by Mercia Ventures, and NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, managed by PXN Ventures under the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II umbrella. The Accelerate Fund was established by The North East Fund with support from North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
Laurence Tan, Senior Investment Associate at PXN Ventures, outlined the rationale for the investment:
In today's rapidly changing world, we're seeing more businesses developing technology to help combat or raise awareness of growing geopolitical risks. Crowd Threat is doing exactly this, bringing new thinking to the threat intelligence conversation and aligning with the government's Modern Industrial Strategy, which highlights defence as a key area. We're proud to be backing Michael and the team with NPIF II funding to help scale this very timely innovation.
Laurence Tan, Senior Investment Associate, PXN Ventures
Source: Tech.eu
