As cyber threats targeting financial institutions continue to grow in scale and sophistication, banks are under increasing pressure to strengthen their ability to detect and prevent fraud before it causes damage. In response to these challenges, Milan based cybersecurity company Cleafy has raised €12 million in a Series B funding round to expand its platform designed to identify and stop cyberattacks targeting banks and financial services providers.
The round was co led by United Ventures and eCAPITAL, bringing Cleafy’s total funding to €22 million. The new investment will support the development of advanced predictive security capabilities and help the company expand its presence in key financial markets across Europe and Latin America.
Addressing evolving cyber threats in banking
The banking sector has become one of the most heavily targeted industries for cybercrime. Digital banking platforms, mobile applications and online payment systems provide convenient services for customers but also create potential entry points for attackers.
Traditional security and anti fraud systems often focus on analysing individual transactions or isolated events. These systems typically rely on predefined rules to flag suspicious activity, which can limit their ability to detect more complex attacks.
As a result, many banks identify fraud only after it has already occurred. This reactive approach can lead to financial losses, operational disruptions and damage to a bank’s reputation.
Cleafy aims to address this limitation by shifting the focus from detecting individual fraudulent transactions to understanding how cyberattacks develop and spread within banking systems.
Analysing attacks across digital channels
Cleafy’s platform is designed to provide banks with a comprehensive view of potential cyber threats by analysing activity across multiple digital channels and internal systems.
The system collects and processes data from web applications, mobile banking platforms, backend infrastructure and network environments. By combining these data sources with real time threat intelligence, the platform aims to detect malicious infrastructure and suspicious behaviour patterns at an early stage.
Instead of simply flagging suspicious transactions, Cleafy attempts to reconstruct how an attack begins and evolves. By identifying attacker behaviour and infrastructure before fraud occurs, banks may be able to prevent incidents before customers or systems are affected.
The company believes this approach can help financial institutions move from reactive fraud detection toward proactive cybersecurity strategies.
Expanding protection to internal environments
In addition to protecting digital banking channels, Cleafy has recently expanded its technology to address threats originating within corporate environments.
Through its Cleafy for Workforce solution, the platform can detect risks related to compromised employee accounts or insider threats. This capability enables banks to monitor activity within internal systems and identify suspicious actions that could indicate unauthorised access or malicious behaviour.
As financial institutions increasingly rely on complex digital infrastructures and remote work environments, monitoring internal activity has become an important component of cybersecurity strategies.
Responding to regulatory changes
The funding round comes at a time when European regulators are introducing new rules designed to strengthen cybersecurity and digital resilience across the financial sector.
Regulations such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act and requirements under the NIS2 directive are raising expectations for how banks monitor and respond to cyber threats. Financial institutions are expected to demonstrate stronger capabilities in areas such as threat detection, incident response and risk management.
Cleafy’s technology aims to help banks meet these requirements by providing deeper visibility into cyber threats and enabling earlier detection of attack patterns.
Supporting global growth
With the new funding, Cleafy plans to accelerate the development of its predictive security technology. The company intends to enhance its ability to analyse global threat patterns and identify emerging attack methods used by cybercriminals.
The investment will also support the expansion of Cleafy’s presence in key banking markets. While the company already serves financial institutions in several regions, it aims to strengthen its footprint across Europe and expand further into Latin America.
As cybercrime continues to evolve and attackers increasingly adopt advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, Cleafy is positioning its platform as a tool that enables banks to anticipate threats earlier and respond more effectively.
By combining multi channel data analysis with real time threat intelligence, the company aims to help financial institutions detect attacks before they escalate, improving resilience in an increasingly complex digital banking landscape.
