Seattle-based cybersecurity startup Protect AI is experiencing significant growth.
On Thursday, the company announced a new $60 million funding round.
This Series B round was led by Evolution Equity Partners, the same New York firm that led the $35 million Series A round a year ago.
Additional investors in this recent funding round include 01 Advisors, StepStone Group, Samsung, Acrew Capital, Boldstart Ventures, Knollwood Capital, Pelion Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures.
Earlier this year, Protect AI acquired Laiyer AI and SydeLabs.
Founded in 2022 by former Amazon and Oracle engineering leaders, the startup focuses on monitoring and securing machine learning and AI systems for its clients. With a suite of five products, their customer base includes national security organizations and Fortune 500 companies.
Bloomberg reports that the company’s current valuation is $400 million.
In recent years, AI startups have attracted substantial investment, accounting for nearly one-third of all funding in the second quarter, according to CBInsights.
Cybersecurity startups continue to be highly attractive to investors, with funding increasing by 144% in Q2, according to Crunchbase. Just last week, another Seattle-area startup, Chainguard, raised $140 million, reaching a valuation of $1.12 billion.
“AI is being deployed across every industry at an accelerating pace, and organizations have realized they need security guardrails for these systems that are not being covered by incumbent security providers,” Protect AI CEO and co-founder Ian Swanson stated.
This marks Swanson’s third startup venture. His first company, Sometrics, a virtual currency platform and in-game payments provider, was acquired by American Express in 2011. He then founded DataScience, a cloud workspace platform acquired by Oracle in 2018. Swanson has also held AI leadership positions at AWS and Oracle.
Swanson’s co-founders include Badar Ahmed, a former engineering leader at Oracle and DataScience, and Daryan Dehghanpisheh, a former leader at AWS.
Previously, Protect AI also acquired Rebuff and Huntr.
The company currently employs 75 people across Seattle, Berlin, and Bangalore, with plans to hire an additional 50 employees this year. To date, Protect AI has raised a total of $108.5 million.
