Indurex Raises €7 Million from Contrarian Ventures to Protect Industrial Safety Systems

Indurex, an Amsterdam-based industrial cybersecurity startup, has raised €7 million in a funding round led by Contrarian Ventures, with participation from Axeleo Capital and Curiosity. The company is developing technology designed to help industrial operators identify dangerous changes to engineering configurations, process settings and safety systems before they create operational risks.

Founded in 2025, Indurex focuses on protecting the digital systems that control physical industrial infrastructure. Its technology is designed for industries including oil and gas, energy, utilities, manufacturing and data centres, where changes to operational settings can affect equipment performance, worker safety and business continuity.

The funding will support research and development and commercial expansion across Europe and the Middle East, with plans to pursue further growth in the United States and Asia-Pacific.

The investment comes as industrial operators face growing cybersecurity challenges and increasing pressure to protect critical infrastructure from attacks that can affect physical operations.

What Does Indurex Do?

Indurex develops SafeGuard AI, a platform designed to monitor industrial engineering data and identify potentially dangerous deviations in the systems that control industrial facilities.

Traditional operational technology cybersecurity tools often focus on network activity, connected devices and suspicious communications. Indurex takes a different approach by examining the engineering configurations, process information and safety settings that determine how industrial equipment operates.

The platform collects information from several sources, including distributed control systems, safety instrumented systems, industrial historians and existing security tools.

Distributed control systems manage industrial processes, while safety instrumented systems help bring processes to a safe state when dangerous conditions arise. Industrial historians store operational data that can help teams understand how a facility has performed over time.

Indurex uses AI agents to identify anomalies and deviations in this information. These findings are intended to help engineers and security teams investigate potential problems and decide what action is necessary.

The company describes this approach as Engineering Intelligence, combining industrial engineering information with cybersecurity monitoring and operational oversight.

Its goal is to help operators identify risks that might not be apparent from network monitoring alone.

Why Monitoring Industrial Networks Is Not Enough

Industrial facilities depend on complex systems that control machinery, production processes, energy distribution and safety functions. Cybersecurity incidents involving these systems can have consequences beyond data loss or temporary IT outages.

A change to an engineering configuration or protection setting can affect how equipment behaves. If the change is unauthorised, incorrect or unsafe, it could potentially disrupt operations or compromise industrial safety.

Indurex argues that monitoring network activity alone does not provide a complete picture of these risks. Its platform is designed to examine the underlying engineering and process data to identify changes that may require investigation.

In addition to anomaly detection, SafeGuard AI offers automated compliance reporting and recommended actions for human operators.

These capabilities are relevant to industrial organisations working with standards such as IEC 62443, which addresses industrial automation and control system cybersecurity, and IEC 61511 and IEC 61508, which cover functional safety.

The platform also addresses compliance requirements associated with the European Union's NIS2 cybersecurity directive.

However, the platform is designed to flag risks and support decision-making. The source does not establish that every alert represents a confirmed threat or that the technology eliminates industrial cybersecurity risks.

Contrarian Ventures Leads the Funding Round

The €7 million round was led by Contrarian Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Vilnius, Lithuania, known for investments in climate technology and energy-related innovation.

Founded in 2017, Contrarian Ventures invests in early-stage companies, typically at the pre-seed and seed stages. Its portfolio includes companies such as PVcase, BeZero Carbon and Zoomo.

The firm's investment in Indurex reflects the connection between industrial cybersecurity and the resilience of critical infrastructure.

As energy systems become more electrified and industrial facilities become increasingly connected, protecting operational technology is becoming an important part of maintaining reliable infrastructure.

Contrarian Ventures managing partner Peciulaitis highlighted the physical consequences that attacks on critical infrastructure can produce, including disruptions affecting homes, hospitals and water services.

He also pointed to Indurex founder Jalal Bouhdada's experience in the industrial security sector as a factor supporting the investment.

Axeleo Capital and Curiosity also participated in the funding round.

Axeleo Capital is a French venture firm focused on business-to-business software and technology companies. Curiosity, based in Amsterdam, invests in early-stage AI software startups.

The company has not disclosed the funding round's valuation, its total funding to date, the number of employees or a detailed breakdown of the participating investors' contributions.

Industrial Cybersecurity Demand Is Growing

The funding arrives amid persistent concerns about cybersecurity incidents affecting industrial control systems and operational technology environments.

According to the SANS Institute's 2025 State of ICS/OT Security survey, which included 330 practitioners, 22% of surveyed organisations reported a cyber incident in their industrial control or operational technology environments during 2025.

Among the reported incidents, 40% disrupted operations, while nearly one in five took more than a month to resolve. The survey also found that unauthorised external access was the starting point for half of the incidents.

These findings illustrate the potential consequences of cybersecurity failures in industrial environments. Unlike conventional IT incidents, attacks affecting operational technology can interfere with physical processes and essential services.

For companies operating power facilities, manufacturing plants, utilities and other critical infrastructure, identifying risks early and understanding their potential operational impact can be particularly important.

Indurex is targeting this challenge by combining industrial data analysis with security monitoring. Rather than relying solely on alerts generated by network activity, the company aims to provide information about how engineering changes may affect the physical process.

The commercial opportunity will depend on whether operators find the platform useful enough to integrate into their existing industrial security and engineering workflows.

A Competitive Market for Industrial Security

Indurex is entering a market where established cybersecurity companies and major technology firms are expanding their presence through acquisitions and investment.

In June 2026, Accenture agreed to acquire a majority stake in Dragos at a reported valuation of $3.25 billion. ServiceNow agreed in December 2025 to acquire Armis for approximately $7.75 billion, while Mitsubishi Electric has also pursued an acquisition involving Nozomi Networks.

Other companies continue to raise substantial funding independently. Claroty secured $150 million in a Series F round in January 2026, led by Golub Growth, with additional funding potentially available from existing investors.

Exein, an Italian cybersecurity company focused on connected devices such as robots, drones and vehicles, also attracted major investor attention. After raising €100 million in December 2025, it secured $270 million at a reported $1.7 billion valuation in September 2026.

These companies do not all target precisely the same technical problems. Nevertheless, their funding and acquisition activity demonstrates sustained interest in securing the systems and devices that underpin critical infrastructure.

According to Axeleo Capital's third-quarter 2026 cybersecurity index, European cybersecurity companies raised €459 million across 33 deals during the quarter. Exein's funding round accounted for 55% of the total amount reported.

Pre-seed and seed transactions represented 70% of the deals by count, highlighting the continued activity among early-stage companies even as large funding rounds attract much of the attention.

What Will Indurex Do With the Funding?

Indurex plans to use the €7 million investment to expand research and development and accelerate commercial growth across Europe and the Middle East.

The company also intends to pursue expansion in the United States and Asia-Pacific as it grows.

Its immediate challenge is to demonstrate that its approach can identify meaningful risks from industrial engineering data and provide actionable information for operators.

Success will depend on factors including the quality of its anomaly detection, compatibility with existing industrial systems, the usefulness of its compliance reporting and its ability to fit into established operational workflows.

The company will also need to establish commercial traction in a market where established providers have significant resources and existing relationships with industrial customers.

The funding announcement did not name any customers, disclose revenue figures or provide a detailed timeline for the planned expansion.

Conclusion

Indurex's €7 million funding round, led by Contrarian Ventures with participation from Axeleo Capital and Curiosity, highlights growing investor interest in cybersecurity solutions designed for critical infrastructure.

The Amsterdam startup is developing SafeGuard AI to detect potentially dangerous changes in industrial engineering configurations, process settings and safety systems. By analysing the data underlying industrial operations, it aims to address risks that conventional network-focused security tools may not fully capture.

The investment will support product development and expansion into additional markets. As industrial cybersecurity becomes increasingly important, Indurex has an opportunity to establish itself in a competitive sector.

Its next challenge is to demonstrate that Engineering Intelligence can deliver measurable value to industrial operators and translate its technical approach into sustained customer adoption.