New York, NY – February 23, 2026 – CounterCraft, a global leader in cyber deception and threat intelligence, has been selected for Mastercard Start Path’s Security Solutions program, a competitive global initiative handpicking startups innovating at the intersection of security and commerce.
Mastercard Start Path’s Security Solutions program engages startups worldwide focused on cybersecurity, authentication, digital identity, fraud detection, dispute resolution, consumer transparency, payment resiliency, and IoT security. Selection is based on a competitive application process evaluating differentiation, scalability, and strategic alignment with Mastercard’s mission to make transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible.
In the launch announcement for Start Path’s Security Solutions program, Johan Gerber, executive vice president and head of Security Solutions at Mastercard, said: “Security is the cornerstone of trust. By partnering with startup innovators already working to protect our ecosystem, we are accelerating co-creation and knowledge-sharing.”
Since its founding in 2014, Mastercard Start Path has engaged over 500 startups from 60+ countries. Many of these companies have gone on to reach unicorn status, enter public markets, and build extended commercial engagements with Mastercard and its global network of banks, merchants, and digital players.
“Being selected for Mastercard Start Path validates what our customers already know: deception technology is an essential part of how financial enterprises protect themselves in an increasingly hostile digital economy,” said David Barroso, CEO of CounterCraft. “This program connects us with the global banking and payments ecosystem at exactly the right moment, and we look forward to what we can build together.”
As a selected company, CounterCraft will gain access to hands-on mentoring, co-innovation opportunities, and Mastercard’s global partner ecosystem to help scale its business.
CounterCraft’s platform enables organizations to detect, analyze, and respond to advanced threats using deception-based techniques that generate high-fidelity threat intelligence. The company serves customers across defense, financial services, critical infrastructure and enterprise sectors globally.
About Mastercard Start Path
Mastercard Start Path is a global startup engagement program providing global support for innovative fintechs. It is tailored for companies with proven solutions that can transform commerce, payments, and financial services.
https://www.mastercard.com/us/en/innovation/partner-with-us/start-path.html
About CounterCraft
CounterCraft is a leading provider of deception-powered threat intelligence solutions that empower organizations to proactively defend against cyber threats. CounterCraft’s pioneering deception technology offers full visibility into adversaries’ tactics, techniques, and procedures. CounterCraft enables organizations to detect threats early, collect specific, actionable threat intelligence, stop threats before a breach occurs and defend their valuable data in real time. Their Gartner-recognized, award-winning technology and innovative approach to cybersecurity has been keepingFortune 500 companies and government agencies safe from cyber attacks since 2015. Discover how CounterCraft is redefining cybersecurity with deception and threat intelligence-driven defense at www.countercraftsec.com.
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