Pillar Security Raises $9M to Address AI-Specific Security Risks

Pillar Security raises $9M to address growing AI-specific security risks - SiliconANGLE

Pillar Security raises $9M to address growing AI-specific security risks Artificial intelligence security startup Pillar Security Inc. announced today that it has raised $9 million in new funding to expand research and development and go-to-market efforts. Founded in 2023, Pillar Security specializes in securing AI applications and infrastructure through the entire AI lifecycle, from development to production. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, with operations in Tel Aviv, Israel, Pillar focuses on providing adaptive security solutions tailored for AI-integrated software systems. The company's solutions seek to address the issue wherein, as organizations build and deploy AI-driven software systems, traditional cybersecurity tools and processes struggle to keep pace, creating critical protection gaps. AI-driven software systems also lead to AI-specific risks, such as evasion attacks, data poisoning, data privacy and intellectual property leakage. Pillar argues that with these challenges, the need for a purpose-built AI security solution has never been more urgent. The company addresses the need head-on with an end-to-end security platform specifically designed for AI-integrated software systems. "AI is fundamentally changing the way we build software -- it doesn't just add another step to traditional processes; it introduces an entirely new lifecycle," said co-founder and Chief Executive Dor Sarig. "Pillar's technology, backed by real-world AI threat intelligence, is built with this understanding, delivering a new class of protection designed explicitly for AI-related security risks." Pillar's end-to-end platform is built to secure the entire AI lifecycle, adapting to the evolving threat landscape that comes with AI adoption. The platform works with existing code repositories, data infrastructures and AI and machine learning platforms to ensure that teams gain immediate value without needing to overhaul their workflows. Once deployed, the platform automatically maps all AI-related assets across the organization, including models, datasets, prompts, notebooks and frameworks, to give security teams a clear view of their AI footprint. Beyond visibility, Pillar also rigorously tests not only AI models but also the infrastructure, applications and agentic layers they depend on. The approach allows the platform to implement tailored, adaptive guardrails for each AI system, calibrated to its specific risk profile and business goals. The company says the result is a proactive defense mechanism that helps prevent security failures before they disrupt operations. Shield Capital led the seed funding round, with Golden Ventures, Ground Up Ventures and other strategic angel investors also participating. "As agentic AI systems are increasingly being deployed within businesses, hand in hand with an equally burgeoning threat surface, Pillar uniquely understands that securing software in the AI era requires more than incremental improvements," said Shield Capital's leading investor, Elias Manousos, who was formerly corporate vice president at Microsoft Corp. responsible for AI Copilot for Security and Threat Intelligence and a former CEO of RiskIQ Inc.

Pillar Security Raises $9M to Help Enterprises Build and Run Secure AI Software

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter TEL AVIV, Israel, April 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Pillar Security, a pioneering AI security startup that helps enterprises build and run secure AI software, announced it has raised $9 million in Seed funding. The round was led by Shield Capital, joined by Golden Ventures, Ground Up Ventures and other strategic angel investors. Funds will support expanding Pillar's R&D and go-to-market efforts. As organizations rapidly build and deploy AI-driven software systems, traditional cybersecurity tools and processes are struggling to keep pace, creating critical protection gaps. A recent Deloitte survey of 1,200 cybersecurity leaders identified major AI-specific risk areas - including evasion attacks, data poisoning, data privacy, and intellectual property leakage, with 77% of respondents expressing significant concern about these threats. Moreover, two in five organizations have already experienced an AI-related security or privacy incident, one in four of which were malicious. The need for a purpose-built AI security solution has never been more urgent. Pillar Security addresses this need head-on, providing an end-to-end security platform specifically designed for AI-integrated software systems. "AI is fundamentally changing the way we build software -- it doesn't just add another step to traditional processes; it introduces an entirely new lifecycle," said Dor Sarig, CEO & Co-Founder at Pillar Security. "We are entering the intelligence age, where software has gained agency and data itself has become executable. Pillar's technology, backed by real-world AI threat intelligence, is built with this understanding, delivering a new class of protection designed explicitly for AI-related security risks. We are redefining application security to match the agentic and autonomous software of the Intelligence Age. This funding accelerates our mission to set new AI security benchmarks, empowering organizations to innovate securely and confidently, while uniting AI teams and security teams around a common language and toolset." Pillar's end-to-end platform addresses the complete AI lifecycle and its evolving threat landscape. Pillar seamlessly integrates with existing code repositories, data infrastructures, and AI/ML platforms that teams already rely on, delivering immediate value without disrupting established workflows. It automatically maps all AI-related assets across the organization -- from models and datasets to prompts, notebooks, and frameworks. Pillar rigorously tests AI models and their underlying infrastructure, applications, and agentic layers on which they're built upon. This comprehensive approach enables Pillar to deploy customized and adaptive guardrails aligned with each AI application's unique risk profile and specific business objectives, proactively preventing failures that directly impact operational continuity. Shield Capital's lead investor, Elias Manousos, former CVP at Microsoft responsible for AI Copilot for Security and Threat Intelligence, and former CEO of RiskIQ, commented, "As agentic AI systems are increasingly being deployed within businesses, hand in hand with an equally burgeoning threat surface, Pillar uniquely understands that securing software in the AI era requires more than incremental improvements. Their visionary approach sets a new standard for how organizations secure and manage intelligent systems. Pillar's team expertise, together with their holistic security vision, is precisely why we led this investment round." "Enterprise AI adoption can only scale with security and compliance evolving in tandem," added Nick Chen, Partner at Golden Ventures. "Pillar is a pioneer in defining and provisioning "trust infrastructure" that streamlines and secures AI procurement, development and deployment across the enterprise. Its platform is critical to enable leaders in any industry to drive AI transformation quickly, responsibly and securely." "What impressed us most about Pillar was their holistic approach to AI security. With dozens of AI initiatives in development, we needed a security partner that not only pinpoints vulnerabilities but also helps remediate them automatically. Pillar's tailored red teaming provides critical insights that continuously enrich their adaptive guardrails, uniquely aligned with each AI application's specific risk profile and business objectives -- this was a game-changer for us," said Tomer Maman, CISO @ Similarweb. "Businesses leveraging AI face a rapidly evolving set of risks -- from model integrity and data poisoning to supply chain threats, and sophisticated inference attacks," said Navot Volk at Ground Up Ventures. "Pillar was purpose-built for this reality, delivering robust protection amid the radical impact of AI, ensuring organizations remain secure, compliant, and agile." Pillar is reshaping the AI security landscape through groundbreaking research powered by unmatched real-world threat intelligence. By establishing the industry's largest AI threat intelligence feed, Pillar has analyzed insights from over 50 million AI application interactions to date. This unique visibility fuels Pillar's advanced threat modeling and precision risk engines, proactively detecting and countering live AI attacks in production. In addition, Pillar's research team recently exposed critical vulnerabilities, including the "Rules File Backdoor" in GitHub Copilot and Cursor, and published an industry-first report on real-world attacks against LLMs -- revealing that attacks average just 42 seconds, with 20% of jailbreaks succeeding. Alongside the proven impact of its pioneering end-to-end platform, Pillar's research demonstrates the company's unwavering commitment to advancing industry-wide AI security standards. The company is already working with leading AI innovators from Fortune 500 companies to cutting-edge tech enterprises such as Similarweb, Eleos Health, and AvidXchange, while actively collaborating with key players throughout the AI ecosystem and industry-leading organizations. Learn more about Pillar's platform and vision on the Pillar website and blog. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e1a9c979-b0c1-4d6f-ac70-d73f7d30cf57 Hadar Yakir [email protected] Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs