Approov

Approov, founded as Critical Blue Limited in 2001, provides a security solution to protect mobile applications and their APIs from a wide range of threats. The company was originally established in Silicon Glen, Scotland, to offer research and development in code optimization for the semiconductor industry, working with major technology firms. Recognizing the emerging security risks in the app economy, the company pivoted its deep-level performance analysis technology to focus on mobile security.

The core of Approov's offering is a Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) technology that uses app attestation to verify that only genuine, untampered mobile apps running in secure environments can communicate with backend APIs. This is achieved through a cloud-based, challenge-response protocol that dynamically assesses the integrity of the app and its runtime environment, rather than relying on static secrets embedded within the app, which can be exploited. If an app is verified, the Approov service issues a short-lived, cryptographically signed JSON Web Token (JWT) that is sent with each API request. This process blocks threats such as bots, malicious scripts, credential stuffing, and attacks from tampered or repackaged apps.

Approov's product features include Runtime Secrets Protection, which manages and delivers API keys and other secrets to the app only at runtime, eliminating the need to hardcode them. It also offers real-time threat intelligence, dynamic certificate pinning to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, and app shielding to detect unsafe environments like rooted devices or emulators. The service is designed for a variety of industries, including finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and connected vehicles. The business model is subscription-based, with pricing tiers determined by the number of monthly active users, and includes a 30-day free trial.

The company is led by CEO Ted Miracco, COO Iain McCready, and CTO Jae Hossell. It is backed by investors including Lanza TechVentures, Scottish Enterprise, Souter Investments, and Maven Capital Partners. In August 2025, Approov closed a £5 million (US$6.7 million) Series A funding round to expand its research and development efforts.

Keywords: mobile app security, API security, runtime application self-protection, RASP, app attestation, API protection, credential stuffing, bot mitigation, mobile threat intelligence, runtime secrets, anti-tampering, dynamic certificate pinning, fintech security, healthcare app security, connected car security, zero trust, software attestation, JWT, fraud prevention, iOS security, Android security