Liferaft Raises Venture Capital Backing from Costanoa Ventures, Intel Capital and Others Before Acquisition by Securitas
Liferaft, a Halifax-based open-source intelligence (OSINT) and threat intelligence software company, has built its funding history through a combination of venture capital rounds and strategic institutional investment as it scaled into a global cybersecurity intelligence provider serving enterprise security teams.
Founded in 2014 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Liferaft (operating under its legal entity Social Navigator Inc.) develops AI-enabled OSINT tools that monitor social media, deep web, and dark web sources to identify emerging physical and digital threats for corporate security teams. Over time, the company has evolved from a startup focused on social media risk detection into a broader enterprise intelligence platform used for executive protection, crisis management, and threat monitoring across global organizations.
The company’s early financing began in 2016 with a $2 million venture equity round, followed by a $1.45 million Series A in 2017, which supported product expansion and early commercial growth. That round included participation from high-profile strategic investor Mike Durland, former Group Head and CEO of Global Banking & Markets at Scotiabank, who joined as both an investor and advisor, strengthening the company’s financial and industry credibility during its early scaling phase.
Liferaft’s most significant institutional backing came in 2020, when it raised approximately $4 million in a Seed round, bringing its total disclosed funding to about $5.5 million across two main venture rounds. That round included participation from several venture firms and angel investors, with Costanoa Ventures leading the financing alongside investors such as Amplify Partners, Intel Capital, Morpheus Ventures, TenOneTen Ventures, Unusual Ventures, Village Global, Venture Highway, and individual investors including Greg Badros, Vivek Garipalli, and Zach Weinberg.
A key institutional supporter of Liferaft has been the Canadian Business Growth Fund, which provided a follow-on investment in 2021 to support continued expansion. This investment was aimed at accelerating product development, expanding sales and marketing efforts, and strengthening the company’s working capital position as demand for OSINT-based security solutions increased.
The CBGF-backed capital infusion marked a transition point for Liferaft, as the company shifted from early-stage venture scaling toward more sustained growth in enterprise markets. The funding supported expansion of its engineering and sales teams and helped the company deepen its presence in North American enterprise security markets, where demand for real-time threat intelligence tools has increased significantly.
In the years following its funding rounds, Liferaft continued to scale its platform capabilities and customer base, ultimately becoming a widely adopted OSINT solution used by hundreds of enterprise clients. By 2025, the company had reached approximately $15.3 million in annual recurring revenue, reflecting strong growth driven by enterprise subscriptions and increasing adoption of AI-powered threat detection tools.
More recently, Liferaft has continued to evolve its product suite with the launch of “Liferaft iQ,” an AI-driven intelligence platform designed to enhance threat detection, automate reporting, and improve real-time risk analysis for security teams. This product expansion reflects the company’s ongoing shift toward AI-first intelligence workflows, aligning with broader trends in cybersecurity and enterprise risk management.
In early 2026, Liferaft reached a major corporate milestone when it entered into an agreement to be acquired by global security services company Securitas. The acquisition highlights the strategic value of Liferaft’s OSINT platform within the broader security industry and marks the culmination of more than a decade of venture-backed growth and institutional scaling.
Overall, Liferaft’s funding story reflects a typical trajectory for enterprise cybersecurity startups: early venture capital support from institutional investors, followed by strategic growth capital from specialized funds like the Canadian Business Growth Fund, and ultimately a successful exit through acquisition by a global security leader.
