HiddenLayer, the security provider for artificial intelligence (AI) models and assets, has raised $50 million in Series A funding to expand its talent base, increase go-to-market efforts, and further invest in its Machine Learning Security (MLSec) Platform.
The investment round marks the largest Series A funding “raised by a cybersecurity company focused on protecting AI this year, and was led by M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, and Moore Strategic Ventures, with participation from Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, Capital One Ventures, and Ten Eleven Ventures.”
HiddenLayer claims that it “demonstrated growth and market leadership since it emerged from stealth in July 2022.”
The company added to its industry recognition “by initiating partnerships with Intel and Databricks, as well as earning accolades such as Most Innovative Startup at RSAC and Most Promising Early-Stage Startup by SC Media.”
The company nearly quadrupled its headcount “over the past year and plans to add 40 more experts to its staff by the end of the year.”
The company says that it “defends Fortune 100 companies’ AI models across several verticals, including finance, government and defense, and cybersecurity.”
Research from Forrester commissioned by HiddenLayer, “shows an overwhelming 96% of organizations find machine learning (ML) to be important or critical to business operations, but, concerningly, the majority of respondents rely on manual processes to address ML model threats.”
In response, 80% of respondents want “to invest in a solution that manages ML model integrity and security in the next 12 months.”
HiddenLayer’s MLSec Platform consists of “a suite of products that provide comprehensive security for AI to protect ML models against adversarial attacks, vulnerabilities, and malicious code injections.”
Each product deployed within MLSec has been designed “with unique strengths and capabilities for detection and response, culminating in a multifaceted defensive approach.”
HiddenLayer’s flagship Machine Learning Detection and Response (MLDR) product provides a noninvasive, software-based approach to monitoring the inputs and outputs of AI algorithms. MLDR offers real-time defense to an otherwise unprotected asset and flexible response options, including alerting, isolation, profiling, and misleading.”
Travis Bales, Managing Director at Booz Allen Ventures, said:
“HiddenLayer’s powerful platform and expert team has proven effective in securing AI from a broad range of threats, so we quickly identified them as a partner that can support and protect our AI deployments. From our early discussions, it was clear to us that the HiddenLayer team has the vision and execution to continue developing security for the emerging AI market.”