A former British Army intelligence operator who has developed a platform that identifies security risks in countries worldwide using reports from local people has secured a £1m investment.
Michael McCabe’s platform is the first to use crowd sourcing to gather threat data on a global scale. Crowd Threat provides up-to-date reports on incidents ranging from armed conflicts and terrorist attacks to social unrest and criminality.
The Newcastle-based business has secured funding from the North East Accelerate Fund, which is managed by Mercia Ventures, and NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, which is managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), to further develop its product and expand its global coverage. The Accelerate Fund was established by The North East Fund with the support of North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
It comes as increased geopolitical risk is driving demand for threat intelligence – not only from governments and security providers but also from corporates looking to safeguard their overseas operations and their supply chains.
Crowd Threat offers an alternative to the traditional intelligence model, which relies on teams of desk-based analysts who monitor media, social media and data feeds remotely. Instead it uses a network of local contributors within each country – typically security or intelligence professionals – who are paid for each incident they report.
Reports are initially assigned a rating based on the contributor’s trust level, then verified with the help of AI and human reviewers. The model not only reduces costs but is also designed to capture threats closer to the source and identify emerging risks at an earlier stage.
McCabe, who spent over two decades working in intelligence with the British military and private security companies in Iraq, is also the founder of Intelligence Fusion, a software-enabled intelligence provider that was acquired by Sigma7 in 2022.
He set up Crowd Threat in 2025 and worked with Newcastle tech company Wubbleyou to develop the platform, which went live in June this year. Its 200-plus contributors are based in 17 countries across six continents and report on incidents worldwide.
McCabe aims to expand its coverage, particularly in Africa, South America and Asia, and ultimately have up to 10,000 contributors. The funding will also enable him to create seven new jobs and work on a second product that could identify community tensions and provide early warning of riots and outbreaks of violence.
Michael McCabe, CEO, said: “While working in Iraq, the security professionals would share information in an online forum. If an explosive device went off in the morning, by the end of the day we would know all the background. I came away thinking, why can’t we tap into local networks around the world?
“Technology now allows us to crowd source threats on a global scale. Using local people who understand the language and culture means we can report incidents more quickly and identify threats Western analysts may miss.”
Owen Conquest of Mercia Ventures added: “Demand for threat intelligence is growing. Crowd Threat’s innovative crowdsourced model offers an alternative approach to intelligence gathering, designed to improve the speed and quality of intelligence. This funding will enable Michael and the team to expand the platform’s geographical reach and accelerate customer acquisition.”
Laurence Tan, Senior Investment Associate at PXN Ventures, said: “In today’s rapidly changing world, we’re seeing more businesses developing technology to help combat or raise awareness of growing geopolitical risks. Crowd Threat is doing exactly this, bringing new thinking to the threat intelligence conversation and aligning with the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, which highlights defence as a key area. We’re proud to be backing Michael and the team with NPIF II funding to help scale this very timely innovation.”
NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance can provide investments in the NPIF II area with a primary focus on the North West regions of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.
The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIFII) covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.
The purpose of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the North of England. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for the North’s smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance