D.C. startup Helmet Security Inc. has emerged from stealth with $9 million in funding to scale a product that prevents AI tools from going rogue.
CEO Fred Kneip and Chief Technology Officer Kaushik Shanadi founded Helmet Security in May to help companies understand and control how “agentic AI” is being used inside an enterprise network.
Over the next six months, Kneip hopes to increase Helmet’s staff from three employees to about 10.
He said recruiting talent who leave the National Security Agency is key, but he’s open to hiring people across the country to fill product development and engineering roles.
Helmet will also need to start scouting for a permanent office to replace the co-working space it has on South Capitol Street near Nationals Park …
D.C. investment firm Updata Partners has signaled plans to raise its largest fund yet to continue investing in promising business-to-business software companies that don’t have Silicon Valley addresses.
Three years after closing its last fund at $608 million, Updata is looking to raise $800 million for its next fund, Updata Partners VIII LP, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission