AIR raises $50M to help companies vet the skills and add-ons AI
As companies start giving AI agents access to an increasing portion of their systems, a nascent software supply chain seems to be forming around the new…
Summary
As companies start giving AI agents access to an increasing portion of their systems, a nascent software supply chain seems to be forming around the new tooling AI agents are using: skills, plug-ins, MCP servers, and add-ons that let them interact with the internet. AI security startup AIR believes companies will need a way to monitor that supply chain, and it’s now coming out of stealth with $50 million raised across two seed rounds to build that product. Founded by Yair Saban (CEO) and Niv Hoffman (CTO), veterans of Israel’s Unit 8200 intelligence corps, where they worked on offensive cybersecurity, AIR offers a platform that can discover agents running inside companies, continuously vet any skills, tools, and components those agents use, and block them from interacting with software or external sources that don’t pass security criteria. It also offers a marketplace of vetted add-ons and skills for AI agents.
Positives
- The funding rounds closed within weeks of each other, Saban told TechCrunch, with the first round raising $10 million, and the second $40 million.
Risks & concerns
- Swish, Netz, and Zach Frankel (president of Cognition), Yinon Costica (co-founder of Wiz), Ofir Ehrlich (co-founder of Eon), Anne Neuberger, Omer Adam, Varun Anand (co-founder of Clay), and other angel investors also participated.