Most threat intelligence is assembled from thousands of miles away by analysts reading feeds, then sold back to companies who find out about the road blockade after their shipment is stuck. Michael McCabe thinks the people already on that road are a better source.
His company, Crowd Threat, has raised £1M from the North East Accelerate Fund managed by Mercia Ventures and NPIF II equity finance managed by PXN Ventures. McCabe spent more than two decades in intelligence with the British military and private contractors in Iraq, and previously founded Intelligence Fusion, acquired by Sigma7 in 2022.
Two hundred contributors, seventeen countries
The platform went live in June after being built with Newcastle developer Wubbleyou. It pays roughly 200 local contributors, typically security or intelligence professionals, for each incident they report, then rates the report on the contributor’s trust level and checks it with both AI and human reviewers.
That model is cheaper than salaried analyst desks and, McCabe claims, catches emerging risks earlier because the eyes on the ground speak the language and read the mood. Demand is rising as corporates worry about supply chains and overseas staff, not just conflicts.
The money funds seven hires, a push into Africa, South America and Asia, and a second product that would flag community tensions before riots break out. Crowd Threat is aiming for 10,000 contributors eventually, a long way from 200, and the quality control that protects its credibility will be what limits how fast it scales.
