In January 2026, the Sydney and San Francisco-based startup Dam Secure secured $4 million in a Seed funding round. The investment was led by Paladin Capital Group, with participation from tech executives including Secure Code Warrior CEO Pieter Danhieux and Tyro Payments CPO Steen Andersson.
The company is led by CEO Patrick Collins and CPTO Simon Harloff, both former executives at Zip and Secure Code Warrior. Dam Secure is addressing the “logic gap” crisis—where AI-generated code functions correctly but contains dangerous security vulnerabilities that traditional scanners fail to detect.
The rapid adoption of generative AI in software development has overwhelmed existing security processes. Dam Secure addresses this with an AI-native platform that allows teams to define security requirements in plain English and automatically enforce them across massive codebases. This shift from “scan-and-patch” to proactive governance mirrors the architecture of AI verification layers, which focus on securing the outputs of large language models.
The new capital will be used to accelerate product development and expand go-to-market efforts through 2026. By automating the identification of flawed logic in machine-written code, Dam Secure provides a level of protection similar to embedded defense systems used in critical infrastructure.
Market Signal
- The Logic Gap Moat: Dam Secure’s $4M round validates that traditional pattern-based security tools are obsolete in the age of AI coding. By focusing on “Logic Flaws” rather than just syntax bugs, the company targets a critical vulnerability in modern developer velocity.
- The “Plain English” Policy: Translating natural language requirements (e.g., “customer data must be encrypted at rest”) into automated code enforcement is a significant UX breakthrough. This democratizes security, allowing non-technical stakeholders to set guardrails—a trend also emerging in autonomous cloud management.
- Founding Pedigree: The deep roots of Collins and Harloff in the application security and fintech sectors (via Zip) provide a massive trust anchor for enterprise customers. This “Founder-Market Fit” is why Paladin Capital, a specialist in AI and cyber defense, led the round.
Key Details
- Company: Dam Secure
- Funding: $4M Seed
- Headquarters: Sydney, Australia / San Francisco, CA
- Lead Investor: Paladin Capital Group
- CEO: Patrick Collins
- Use Case: Securing AI-generated code, automated security policy enforcement, and logic flaw detection
