Sequoia backs AI-agent security startup Cymphony again

As AI agents gain access to the same sensitive corporate data and systems as human employees while operating at machine speed, enterprises face new security risks. Sequoia Capital is betting on that shift, backing startup Cymphony as it emerges with $30 million in funding — a $25 million Series A co-led by Sequoia and SMBC Fin Atlas Beyond Fund, following a previously undisclosed seed round Sequoia also led. The round values the New York- and Tel Aviv-based startup at more than $100 million post-investment.

AI agents don’t necessarily go through the same access and identity controls as employees, even though they can touch multiple systems and handle large amounts of corporate data — making it hard for enterprises to track who, or what, has access to what. Cymphony built what it calls a “workforce graph” that brings together identity, data, and activity signals to give security teams a single view of employees, AI agents, and other nonhuman identities. “Enterprise security was designed for human employees,” co-founder and CEO Shy Dekel told TechCrunch. “More and more, there start to be independent entities that are practically joining the workforce, but they’re no longer people.”

Cymphony says it’s already finding risks inside large companies: at one U.S. public company, it found about 85,000 files that had become accessible to AI tools and agents, and helped close the exposure. In another case, an external collaborator had installed an unsanctioned instance of Anthropic’s Claude that used the collaborator’s existing access to scan thousands of sensitive files. Beyond identifying risks, Cymphony’s AI agents investigate incidents, prioritize what security teams should address, and automate some remediation.

Sequoia’s initial seed bet, more than two years ago, came before Cymphony had settled on a product direction — largely a wager on founders Dekel, Idan Berkovits, and Edi Gotlieb, all of whom came through Talpiot, the Israeli military’s selective tech program that also produced Wiz. By the Series A, Cymphony had signed a double-digit number of enterprise customers, including KKR, Syngenta, Cass Information Systems, and Athennian, and reached seven figures in annual recurring revenue within its first year of sales. The 30-person startup, mostly serving North America today, is starting to see demand from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and competes with established players including Microsoft, Okta, CyberArk, Wiz, and Varonis.

Why it matters

As AI agents multiply inside enterprises faster than identity and access systems built for humans can track them, governing what those agents can touch may become one of cybersecurity’s biggest new markets.