Technology
AI security startup AIR emerges from stealth with $50 million in seed funding
The company aims to help enterprises discover, monitor, and continuously vet the third-party skills and add-ons used by autonomous AI agents.
The short version
- AIR has raised $50 million across two seed rounds to address the security risks of AI agents interacting with the internet and enterprise systems.
- The startup's platform continuously inspects the third-party components, such as plugins and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, that AI agents use to perform actions.
- With over 20 current customers, AIR plans to use the new capital to expand its research team and scale its go-to-market efforts in the U.S. and Europe.
Key facts
- AIR raised $50 million across two rapid seed rounds, with Sequoia leading a $10 million first round and Greenoaks leading a $40 million second round.[TechCrunch]
- The company was founded by CEO Yair Saban and CTO Niv Hoffman, who are veterans of Israel's Unit 8200 intelligence corps.[TechCrunch]
- AIR's platform discovers AI agents running inside an enterprise, monitors unauthorized interactions, and maintains a whitelist of vetted agent skills and add-ons.[TechCrunch]
- According to Saban, AIR currently filters out approximately 27% of the online skills and add-ons it evaluates due to security risks.[TechCrunch]
- AIR has more than 20 customers, with the highest demand coming from financial services and pharmaceutical firms.[TechCrunch]
- The startup competes in a crowded market that includes security firms such as Noma Security, Zenity, Astrix Security, and Operant AI.[TechCrunch]