HiddenLayer Raises $100 Million for AI Security

    HiddenLayer has raised $100 million (AZN 170 million) to secure artificial intelligence systems. The Series B funding round was led by Delta-v Capital. Ten Eleven Ventures, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft’s M12 fund, and Booz Allen Hamilton also participated in the round. The Austin-based startup protects models, agents, and workflows from attacks, vulnerabilities, and malicious code injections.    The AI security market is growing rapidly. Gartner estimates that companies will spend $2.83 billion (approximately AZN 4.81 billion) on these tools in 2026. This figure is 83 percent higher than spending in 2025. Spending is expected to reach approximately $4.78 billion (AZN 8.13 billion) in 2027.    The company’s annual recurring revenue has grown more than 10 times over the past year, reaching tens of millions of dollars. New customers that joined last year accounted for more than 90 percent of the growth. Financial services companies and major technology companies developing AI products are the main customer groups. HiddenLayer has also signed contracts with the US Department of Defense and intelligence agencies. One customer was identified as a leading model provider with more than 700 million weekly users, but its name was not disclosed.    HiddenLayer has adapted its business to generative and agent-based AI. The company’s products cover AI system inventory, runtime protection, attack simulation, and supply chain security. It has also recently added capabilities against prompt injection, agent manipulation, and malicious tool use. The company considers runtime protection a top priority as AI adoption expands across businesses.    Open-source and open-weight models are also cited as a new area of risk. The platform analyzes and scans approximately 50 AI file formats to verify that a model matches its stated description. This verification is designed to detect files posing as other models and models hidden inside a model. This allows companies to verify the origin and integrity of the models they use.    The new funding will primarily be used to expand sales and distribution capabilities. HiddenLayer also plans to expand its engineering and research teams. The company intends to enter markets in the Middle East and Africa, as well as Europe. The startup raised $50 million (AZN 85 million) in a Series A funding round three years ago, and the new round is twice that amount.