Lastwall raises $16M Series A extension to defend critical infrastructure

What's the deal? Fredericton-based cybersecurity startup Lastwall has closed a $16 million Series A extension to scale its identity verification software across North American government agencies and critical infrastructure providers.

The round was led by BDC Capital's StrongNorth Fund, with participation from the New Brunswick Innovation FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Frostbite Capital, and existing investors Blue Bear CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, 18West, and Blue Wing Ventures. As part of the deal, BDC's vice-president of defence strategy, Peter Dawe — a recently retired Major General with 35 years in the Canadian Armed Forces — is joining Lastwall's board.

Lastwall's IDCommand software analyses over 200 characteristics of each login attempt, including keystroke cadence, mouse movement, and hardware configurations. If something looks off, it prompts additional authentication and alerts security teams.

Why now? Nation-state cyberattacks on civilian targets — water systems, power grids, food supply chains — are escalating. According to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), 90% of cyberattacks begin with a phishing email that hijacks sign-on credentials.

"We're seeing foreign nation-states hacking our critical infrastructure, our water, our power, the food supply chains; all those things need to be defended," founder and chief executive officer Karl Holmqvist told BetaKit.

Holmqvist warned that AI magnifies the risk. If an attacker steals an identity linked to dozens of AI agents with delegated authority, "the blast radius of that attack is so dramatically magnified."

What could go wrong? Lastwall took what Holmqvist calls "hard mode" — building first for the US Department of Defense rather than starting with a minimum viable product. That gambit paid off: Lastwall now holds FedRAMP Moderate Authorization, clearing it for the entire US federal ecosystem.

But selling to government clients means long procurement cycles and heavy compliance burdens. Maintaining a 400-plus control audit every year is costly, and scaling across both US and Canadian federal markets adds complexity.

The signal: Lastwall is still at the early growth stage, yet it has already cleared one of the highest compliance bars in North American government tech — FedRAMP Moderate Authorization — giving it a moat that few startups at a comparable stage can match. With BDC Capital, a government-backed investment fund, leading via a defence-specific vehicle and a retired Major General joining the board, the round underscores how Canadian public capital is being deliberately funnelled into homegrown cyber-defence companies as allied governments race to harden critical infrastructure.

Read more: betakit.com