We’ve selected 10 AI security startups that have been on our radar thanks to offerings in key segments such as AI security posture management (AI-SPM), agent security and AI governance.
AI Security Startups To Watch
The first half of 2026 continued to see surging demand for securing AI applications and autonomous agents, helping to fuel massive opportunities for startups in the space as well as their partners.
As part of CRN’s midyear 2026 coverage, we’ve selected 10 AI security startups that have been on our radar during the first six months of the year—through launching innovative new products in key AI security segments and raising significant new rounds of funding.
[Related: How AI Agents Are Making Identity Security More ‘Critical’ Than Ever: Partners]
The hottest AI security startups of 2026 so far include emerging vendors with capabilities for AI security posture management (AI-SPM), agent security, AI governance, runtime protection and AI red teaming.
For solution and service providers such as New York-based Presidio, separating the AI security startups with long-term usefulness from those offering more narrow features has become an increasing priority, according to Justin Tibbs, vice president for cybersecurity at Presidio, No. 26 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2026. “We’re trying to figure out which of those early-stage companies we can execute with and drive great things to our clients with,” Tibbs said. “Those are the ones we will really focus on.”
In particular, emerging AI security startups are evaluated by the team at Presidio on whether they solve a pressing customer problem and can provide differentiated capabilities, he said. Ultimately, “we’re always looking for the up-and-coming, next-generation platforms,” Tibbs said.
What follows are the details on 10 of the hottest AI security startups of 2026 so far.
Aurascape
Founded: 2023
CEO: Moinul Khan
In March, Aurascape announced the launch of a new tool for addressing massive agentic security gaps related to the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The Zero-Bypass MCP Gateway works with Aurascape’s AI Proxy to enable governance for use of trusted tools, as well as providing identification of high-risk activity related to MCP, the company said. In addition, Aurascape’s Zero-Bypass MCP Gateway has capabilities for reducing bypass risk during agent interactions, offering a single platform for securing both third-party and internally developed agents, according to the startup. Aurascape announced a $50 million funding round led by Mayfield Fund in April 2025.
HiddenLayer
Founded: 2022
CEO: Chris Sestito
In March, HiddenLayer unveiled a new version of its AI Runtime Security offering with a new set of capabilities for protecting AI agents. Key functionality includes enhanced agentic runtime visibility as well as agentic investigation and threat hunting. The startup also introduced agentic detection for preventing “multi-step agentic threats” and real-time enforcement for adaptive policies, the company said in a news release. HiddenLayer announced a $50 million Series A funding round led by M12 and Moore Strategic Ventures in September 2023.
Noma Security
Founded: 2023
CEO: Niv Braun
Noma Security offers what it calls a “unified” AI agent security platform, with capabilities for continuous discovery, governance and protection of AI and agents. The platform provides a full AI inventory through automatically discovering where AI applications and agents are being built, as well as determining which data and systems they can access, according to the company. Other key capabilities include AI security posture management and risk prioritization as well as AI runtime protection, Noma said. In February, Noma Security announced the hire of channel veteran Ted Plumis as its vice president of global channel and alliances to accelerate the startup’s expansion with solution and service provider partners.
Operant AI
Founded: 2021
CEO: Vrajesh Bhavsar
In March, Operant AI debuted an initiative aimed at enabling security for AI and agents to be embedded directly within AI inference infrastructure. The initiative, the AI Infrastructure Ecosystem Partnership Program, will involve working with top AI infrastructure companies to embed Operant’s runtime defense capabilities for AI and agentic “directly into the inference stack,” the startup said in a news release. The move follows the launch of Operant AI’s Channel Partner Program in February, focused on enabling VAR partners to provide advanced security for AI and agents to customers. The program is led by Katherine Mills, a channel veteran and head of channel partners at Operant AI.
Pillar Security
Founded: 2023
CEO: Dor Sarig
Pillar Security offers security platform that aims to deliver comprehensive visibility and strong controls for protecting AI systems. The startup is capable of securing the “entire AI lifecycle, from development to deployment,” the company said in a news release, with capabilities for AI discovery and AI-SPM (AI security posture management) as well as AI red teaming and adaptive guardrails. Pillar announced its $9 million seed funding round led by Shield Capital in April 2025.
Reco
Founded: 2020
CEO: Ofer Klein
In late June, Reco announced an update to its AI and agentic security platform with the launch of Reco Agent Security. The offering provides capabilities for preventing data exposure and unauthorized usage of AI agents. Other recent moves by the startup have included an integration with Anthropic’s Claude Security that provides governance for usage of Claude. In February, Reco announced raising a $30 million Series B funding round led by Zeev Ventures.
Straiker
Founded: 2024
CEO: Ankur Shah
Straiker offers a platform for securing AI agents with a focus on providing a set of several capabilities that are tightly integrated. Those capabilities include complete AI agent discovery as well as “pre-deployment” adversarial testing—aimed at uncovering vulnerabilities—and runtime protection for monitoring activity and rapidly shutting down threats, according to the startup. In late June, Straiker announced raising a $64 million Series A funding round led by by Marathon Management Partners, Citi Ventures, Illuminate Financial and Workday Ventures.
WitnessAI
Founded: 2023
CEO: Rick Caccia
WitnessAI offers what it calls a unified AI security and governance platform, which has notably been extended as of January to include an expanded set of governance capabilities for agentic AI. The new capabilities both provide monitoring and security for the activities of AI agents—delivering a high level of observability already offered around LLM activity—as well as providing an extension of application protection to agents from AI models, according to the startup. In January, WitnessAI also announced the closing of a new funding round of $58 million led by Sound Ventures, which follows the company’s $27.5 million Series A funding from 2024.
Zafran Security
Founded: 2022
CEO: Sanaz Yashar
In March, Zafran Security launched its new secure control plane for AI agents with the debut of the Zafran Exposure Gateway. The offering provides a centralized interface allowing all agents to get “rich exposure context, scoped access and auditable action paths,” the company said in a post on its blog. The gateway enables organizations to make AI agents operational while still maintaining security and governance, the company said. Ultimately, “it’s very important that you have the right gateway and you can enable [agents] responsibly and securely,” said Sanaz Yashar, co-founder and CEO of Zafran Security, in an interview with CRN.
Zenity
Founded: 2021
CEO: Ben Kliger
Zenity provides what it calls an “agent-centric” platform, offering comprehensive visibility and observability around AI agents—along with detection and prevention of risky behaviors in real time. The Zenity platform also delivers capabilities such as deterministic control over actions performed by agents. Recent announcements include the introduction of Zenity into the AWS Marketplace in January. The startup’s latest funding, closed in October 2024, saw the company raise a $38 million Series B round led by Third Point Ventures and DTCP. Other investors have included Microsoft-backed venture fund M12 and Intel Capital.
