Straiker Launches with $21 Million to Safeguard AI

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 27, 2025 — Straiker, an AI-native security company, announced its launch from stealth mode today with $21 million in initial funding from Lightspeed Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures. Straiker is introducing the first solution designed to safeguard the full range of enterprise AI applications–from AI native apps to Agents. Backed by top-tier investors and a team of seasoned AI and cybersecurity experts, Straiker aims to help organizations confidently deploy AI today and in the future by addressing critical security and safety risks with the AI apps enterprises are building and deploying.

"Enterprises are moving beyond simple AI chatbots to fully autonomous agents—but with this evolution comes an exponential rise in security and safety risks. The threat vector has escalated from basic prompt injection attacks to mass data exfiltration, supply chain attacks, and even autonomous chaos, as adversaries exploit AI's language and reasoning layer vulnerabilities. AI is rapidly becoming one of the most significant cybersecurity risks. Enterprises must act now to stay ahead of these emerging risks and make AI security a top priority, said Ankur Shah, Co-founder and CEO at Straiker. "Straiker is the only AI-native platform that delivers real-time protection against attacks aimed at each layer of AI apps and Agents."

Straiker's automated, red-team-level assessment is integrated with the company's runtime safety and security guardrails for continuous analysis and automated blocking. The innovative solutions harness intelligence from each layer of the AI application stack—including user, models, application, agents, identity, and data—ensuring precise assessment results and industry-leading protection. Straiker's launch includes the general availability of its first two AI-native modules:

• Ascend AI: Performs an in-depth attack simulation using an advanced, curated set of AI-specific safety and security threats. Elevate the security of AI apps and agents with a one-time risk assessment or continuous testing to proactively detect and resolve root issues.
• Defend AI: Extends protection beyond prompt-level threats to shield AI applications and agents from a wide range of security and safety threats targeting different layers of AI apps and agentic systems. Seamless integration provides automated threat blocking for risks detected by Ascend AI.

‍

Both modules are powered by the Straiker AI Engine, which uses a medley of small, fine-tuned models that reason across intelligence from every layer of the AI applications stack. This design provides precision and low latency for lightning fast app performance. The Straiker AI engine enables customizations to address unique safety and security requirements with an architecture designed to preserve privacy. Straiker's STAR team supports these industry-leading capabilities. This dedicated AI security research team continues to investigate the latest model and autonomous agent risks and research the tactics, techniques, and procedures being employed by adversaries.

Looking ahead, Straiker will introduce additional modules to secure every stage of the AI app development lifecycle and to safeguard the use of third-party AI applications.

Supporting Quotes

Customer Endorsements:

‍> "Straiker has been pivotal in identifying and addressing the Generative AI-native risks within our AI platform." - Aman Sirohi, CISO, People AI.

‍> "Straiker helped remove the security blindspot in our B2B AI Application with their unique approach with its Ascend AI product." - Ken Ricketts, CISO at Coupa.

‍> "Straiker enabled us to launch our consumer-facing AI application with confidence. With Real-time protection for security and safety, we didn't have to choose between user experience and robust protection." - CISO at a leading Fintech firm.

> "AI security & safety risks were a principal concern getting ready to launch our customer facing AI experiences. Straiker was instrumental in providing a holistic security & safety assessment of our application with specific recommendations on how to fix those issues." - Dan Garcia, CISO, Enterprise DB.

"We have several AI initiatives internally. Straiker was instrumental in providing a holistic security & safety assessment of critical homegrown applications." - Technology Leader at Large Media Conglomerate.

Investor Support

"The AI Age requires someone to rethink security and take an AI-native approach fundamentally. It will be the next frontier in Cyber. We were active in this space for a long time, waiting for the right team and technology, until we came across Straiker. We couldn't be more pleased with the progress the all-star Straiker team has made in such a short time," said Arif Janmohammed, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures.

"I have been in the industry for the last 5 decades as an operator and investor. I have never been more excited about cyber as I am now with AI. Straiker has the right team and technology to disrupt the entire cyber security industry with AI," said Enrique Salem, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures.

About Straiker

Straiker provides unmatched real-time protection for AI applications and agents with an AI-native security solution. The advanced AI engine employs a medley of finely tuned models to deliver precise, lightning-fast results.  The proprietary models are trained with intelligence from its AI Security Research Team (STAR) and reasoning across every layer of AI apps and agents to ensure complete protection. Founded by a team of AI and cybersecurity veterans, Straiker is backed by top-tier investors and guided by advisors with deep expertise in AI, cybersecurity, and company building. For more information, visit www.straiker.ai.

‍

Media Contact

‍Michelle Kearney
Hi-Touch PR
kearney@hi-touchpr.com