Young "bug bounty hunter" bags $6M pre-seed round for security startup

French Cybersecurity Prodigy Raises $5.9M to “Hack the Planet” With AI-Powered Defense Platform

In a remarkable story that blends youthful audacity with cutting-edge cybersecurity expertise, 23-year-old French hacker-turned-entrepreneur Roni Carta has secured a $5.9 million pre-seed funding round for his startup Lupin & Holmes, a company poised to revolutionize enterprise security through artificial intelligence and predictive threat mapping.

The Parisian founder, who legally hacked his way to nearly $800,000 in bounty rewards from tech giants including Google, Amazon, and Netflix before his 23rd birthday, has captured the attention of Silicon Valley’s elite investors. The funding round was led by Harry Stebbings’ 20VC and Seedcamp, with participation from Kima Ventures, Purple Ventures, and the founders of Hugging Face and Wiz.

A Bug Bounty Hunter’s Journey to Silicon Valley Stardom

Carta’s journey reads like a modern cybersecurity fairy tale. Inspired by Arsène Lupin, the fictional gentleman thief created by Maurice Leblanc in 1905, Carta began his hacking career at age 17. What started as youthful curiosity evolved into a professional “bug bounty hunter” career, where he was paid by companies to legally penetrate their systems and identify vulnerabilities before malicious actors could exploit them.

His reputation grew rapidly within the cybersecurity community. Carta earned the prestigious title of “Most Valuable Hacker” at two of Google’s Live Hacking Events, a recognition bestowed upon only the most skilled ethical hackers. His findings at companies like Facebook and Google earned him hundreds of thousands in rewards, establishing him as one of the most sought-after security researchers in the industry.

From Ethical Hacker to Enterprise Security Innovator

Carta’s pivotal insight—that hackers rarely attack through front doors but instead navigate upstream through code layers—became the foundation for Lupin & Holmes’ flagship product, Depi. This AI-powered platform maps real attack paths, enabling enterprises to identify and neutralize threats before they materialize into actual breaches.

“The traditional approach to cybersecurity is reactive,” Carta explains. “We’re building something fundamentally different—a system that thinks like a hacker to predict where attacks will come from, not just respond to them after the fact.”

The startup’s client roster already includes several Fortune 500 companies, with Ledger, the French cryptocurrency security platform, publicly confirming their partnership. This early traction, combined with Carta’s track record at major tech companies, justified the substantial pre-seed valuation that typically wouldn’t be seen until much later funding stages.

Building a Hacker Culture in Corporate Security

What sets Lupin & Holmes apart isn’t just its technology but its philosophy. Carta emphasizes that the company’s “hacker culture” is central to its identity and approach. “We prevent threats proactively because we understand how attackers think,” he says. “This mindset, this culture of constantly probing and testing, is what makes us different.”

The company’s name itself—Lupin & Holmes—reflects this dual nature of security work: the creative, boundary-pushing approach of the fictional thief combined with the analytical, methodical investigation style of Sherlock Holmes.

Scaling Up to “Hack the Planet”

With the fresh capital injection, Carta plans to expand his team by approximately 10 people and accelerate product development. The funding will support what Carta calls “hacking the planet”—an ambitious R&D initiative to map and understand global attack patterns at unprecedented scale.

The company is currently operating with Carta as the sole founder after initially launching with two co-founders, demonstrating his commitment to maintaining control over the company’s vision and culture as it scales.

A New Generation of Cybersecurity Leadership

At just 23, Carta represents a new breed of tech founder—one who built credibility through demonstrated expertise rather than traditional credentials. His story challenges conventional wisdom about what it takes to launch a successful cybersecurity company and suggests that practical, hands-on experience may be more valuable than academic pedigree in certain tech sectors.

As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated and frequent, Carta’s approach of using AI to predict and prevent attacks before they occur couldn’t be more timely. With backing from some of the most influential names in venture capital and technology, Lupin & Holmes is positioned to become a major player in the $200 billion cybersecurity market.

The company’s success also highlights a broader trend: the increasing recognition that ethical hackers and security researchers are not just valuable assets but essential partners in building safer digital infrastructure. As Carta and his team continue to “hack the planet” for good, they’re proving that sometimes the best defense is understanding exactly how the offense thinks.

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Tags: cybersecurity startup, $5.9M funding, bug bounty hunter, French tech, AI security platform, enterprise security, ethical hacking, Roni Carta, Lupin & Holmes, 20VC, Seedcamp, predictive threat mapping, tech founder, cybersecurity innovation, hacking culture, pre-seed funding, Fortune 500 clients, Ledger partnership, tech investment, young entrepreneur

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