Fundraising Fox

Protect AI

Seattle, US · Founded 2022 · Delaware corporation · 10 known investors

Protect AI develops security solutions for artificial intelligence systems. The company serves organizations adopting AI technology across multiple industries globally.

Founders & leadership

Protect AI was founded in 2022 by Ian Swanson, Badar Ahmed, and Daryan Dehghanpisheh.

IS
Ian SwansonCo-founder
BABadar Ahmed
Badar AhmedinCTO/CPO and Founder2022–2025
DD
Daryan DehghanpishehCo-founder

Board

RSRichard Seewald
Richard Seewaldin𝕏Member, Board of Directors2023–2025Founder and Managing Partner at Evolution Equity Partners
MKMark Kraynak
Mark Kraynakin𝕏Board DirectorInvestor at Aspect Ventures
ESEd Sim
Ed Simin𝕏Investor/BoardFounder and General Partner at boldstart ventures

Investors · 10

Reported raises · per SEC filings

Form D private placements

$80.8M disclosed across 1 of 2 rounds · 2023–2024

$80.8MraisedAug 2024 · 18 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • Ian SwansonExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
  • Badar AhmedDirector
  • Daryan DehghanpishehDirector
  • Richard SeewaldDirector
  • Mark KraynakDirector
  • Ed SimDirector
Offering amount
$80.8M
Amount sold
$80.8M
First sale
Jul 2024
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2022
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

Competitors · 8

by search overlap
Palo Alto Networks139 shared keywordsPalo Alto Networks provides cybersecurity platforms and services to protect organizations' digital infrastructure across cloud, network, and security operations. The company serves enterprise organizations, governments, financial institutions, utilities, and healthcare providers globally.
Netezza88 shared keywordsIBM is a global technology company whose business spans enterprise software (including Red Hat, HashiCorp, and Confluent), IT infrastructure such as mainframes, servers, and storage, and IT consulting services. The company is also investing heavily in quantum computing and AI-based enterprise offerings, including its Lightwell open-source software security clearinghouse and the Anderon quantum wafer foundry.
Sentinel One68 shared keywordsSentinelOne provides an AI-powered cybersecurity platform for enterprises that integrates endpoint protection, threat detection, and incident response capabilities. The company serves large enterprises, including many Fortune 500 organizations, to protect against cyber threats at scale.
Check Point Software66 shared keywordsCheck Point Software Technologies is a cybersecurity company providing security products and solutions. This page is its investor relations section, containing annual reports, SEC filings, financial results, and corporate governance information.
Mindgard64 shared keywordsMindgard provides AI security solutions that help enterprises identify, assess, and mitigate threats across AI models, agents, and applications throughout the AI lifecycle. The platform uses offensive security techniques to help organizations understand exposure and reduce risk from AI-driven threats.
Crowdstrike59 shared keywordsCrowdStrike provides an AI-native cybersecurity platform that unifies endpoint, identity, cloud, SaaS, and AI protection to detect and stop breaches for enterprise organizations. It combines automated response with human-led security operations including managed detection and response, threat hunting, and security services.
illusive networks53 shared keywordsProofpoint offers a suite of enterprise security and compliance products that protect people, email, cloud apps, and data from human-centric cyber threats using machine learning and AI. Its tools also cover data loss prevention, communications archiving, e-discovery, compliance supervision, identity threat detection, and security awareness training.
Cloudflare Turnstile52 shared keywordsCloudflare provides a global cloud network platform delivering security, performance, and development services through sixty-plus integrated services including SASE, application security, and full-stack development infrastructure.

Companies competing with Protect AI for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

Acquisitions · 1

Early investors' stakes continue via these deals
Syde Labs

AI-security startup that built SydeBox (automated red-teaming / vulnerability assessment for generative AI) and SydeGuard (runtime firewall). Acquired by Protect AI in July 2024; that product was later folded into Protect AI Recon, and Protect AI was subsequently acquired by Palo Alto Networks.

In the news

Frequently asked questions

What does Protect AI do?
Protect AI develops security solutions for artificial intelligence systems. The company serves organizations adopting AI technology across multiple industries globally.
Who founded Protect AI?
Protect AI was founded by Ian Swanson, Badar Ahmed, Daryan Dehghanpisheh in 2022.
Who are Protect AI's investors?
Protect AI's investors include 01 Advisors, Acrew Capital, Aviso Ventures, boldstart ventures, Evolution Equity Partners, Samsung Next, Evolution Technology, Pelion Ventures and 2 more.
How much funding has Protect AI raised?
Protect AI has disclosed $80.8M raised across 1 of its 2 known rounds.
Where is Protect AI headquartered?
Protect AI is headquartered in Seattle, US.