Palo Alto Networks paid $500M for Console, sources say

Palo Alto Networks paid $500 million in cash and stock to acquire Console, a two-year-old startup that uses AI agents to automate routine IT help desk tasks, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. The companies officially announced the acquisition on Tuesday but did not disclose terms.

Since its founding in 2024, Console has raised $29 million across two rounds: a $6.2 million seed led by Thrive Capital and a $23 million Series A co-led by DST Global and Thrive. Before the sale, the startup was valued at $157 million, according to PitchBook — delivering a rapid return for investors including SV Angel, Abstract Ventures, and, notably, Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, who had participated as an angel investor. Palo Alto Networks declined to comment.

The cybersecurity giant plans to integrate Console into Cortex, its platform for automatically detecting and neutralizing threats. Console’s agentic capabilities will let security teams investigate and resolve alerts using natural language, giving Cortex “the arms and legs to deliver autonomous security outcomes across the entire enterprise,” Arora said in a statement.

Console was founded by Andrei Serban shortly after his previous startup, code-security platform Fuzzbuzz, was acquired by Rippling. Its customers included Ramp, Flock Safety, and Scale AI, and the startup automated tasks such as password resets, granting access to apps like Figma and Miro, and routine troubleshooting without direct human involvement. As a startup, Console competed primarily with Serval, another ServiceNow challenger that reached a $1 billion valuation after raising a $75 million Series B led by Sequoia last December. One investor not backing Serval told TechCrunch that Console’s acquisition leaves Serval as the category leader to watch among startups automating IT service management.

Console is Palo Alto Networks’ seventh acquisition in 2026, according to PitchBook. Other VC-backed companies the cybersecurity giant has scooped up this year include observability platform Chronosphere, backed by Greylock and Lux Capital, at a valuation of $3.35 billion, and cyber startup Koi, backed by Battery and Team8, for $400 million.

Why it matters

The deal underscores how aggressively Palo Alto Networks is acquiring agentic AI capabilities — its seventh purchase this year — while delivering Console’s early backers, including its own CEO as an angel investor, a swift payout just two years after founding.