Dropzone AI Secures $16.85M to Develop Autonomous Cybersecurity AI Agents, Cutting Manual Work by 90%

AI security developer Dropzone AI has successfully secured $16.85 million in Series A funding, led by Theory Ventures with participation from returning investors Decibel Partners, Pioneer Square Ventures, and In-Q-Tel.

Founded in 2023 by Edward Wu, Dropzone focuses on creating pre-trained autonomous AI security agents to assist in identifying cybersecurity threats. The increasing number of cyberattacks is attributed in part to a talent shortage, with an estimated need for four million skilled professionals to adequately protect our digital infrastructure. Dropzone aims to address this gap through innovative AI solutions.

“With advancements in generative AI, traditional attacks become easier and more cost-effective,” Wu explained in an interview. “Over 99% of cybersecurity teams lack the resources to hire sufficient analysts for comprehensive investigation of alerts around the clock, leading to breaches and incidents.”

Dropzone's patented large language model (LLM) simulates the thought processes of expert human analysts, enabling AI agents to support tier-1 security alert investigations for cybersecurity operations teams. The company claims its bots can decrease the workload for human analysts by up to 90%, cutting the typical investigation time from 40 minutes to just three. These AI agents function autonomously without the need for playbooks, code, or chat prompts.

“Dropzone combines extensive knowledge of security operations with cutting-edge AI technology,” said Tomasz Tunguz, founder of Theory Ventures. “Our virtual analysts automate repetitive analytical tasks, bolstering defenses against increasingly sophisticated AI-driven attacks.”

Since its inception, Dropzone has gained substantial traction, actively deploying its technology in over six production environments. With a total of $20 million raised, including $3.5 million last August, the new investment will enable Dropzone to expand its sales, marketing, engineering, and customer success teams, with a particular focus on hiring additional engineers and security analysts.

Tomasz Tunguz will join Dropzone’s board as part of this funding round. The company has not disclosed its valuation.