AI Cybersecurity Startup Depthfirst Raises $120 Million at $580 Million Valuation

AI cybersecurity startup Depthfirst raised $120 million total in 2026, including an $80 million Series B led by Meritech that valued the company at $580 million, just two months after a $40 million Series A. Founded in 2024 by veterans from Google Deepmind, Databricks, and Block, the company builds AI models from scratch using reinforcement learning to autonomously detect vulnerabilities before malicious AI can exploit them. Depthfirst launched its first model dfs-mini1 for crypto smart contract security and has grown to over 20 customers with 300% revenue growth over two quarters, targeting the $18 billion application security market.

Depthfirst's $120 Million Funding Round and Valuation

• ▪Depthfirst raised a total of $120 million in funding
• ▪Depthfirst announced an $80 million funding round on Tuesday, March 31, 2026
• ▪Depthfirst's revenue grew 300% over two quarters prior to March 2026
• ▪Depthfirst's $80 million funding round valued the company at $580 million
• ▪Depthfirst has more than 20 customers as of March 2026
• ▪Depthfirst raised $40 million in a Series A funding round two months before its $80 million Series B

Purpose-Built AI Models for Autonomous Vulnerability Detection

• ▪Depthfirst launched its first in-house model dfs-mini1 in the week of March 31, 2026
• ▪Depthfirst's dfs-mini1 model is aimed at autonomously detecting security weaknesses in crypto smart contracts
• ▪Depthfirst is developing General Security Intelligence to find and fix vulnerabilities before malicious AI models can exploit them

Company Leadership and Market Positioning

• ▪Google acquired Wiz for $32 billion
• ▪The application security market is valued at $18 billion
• ▪Qasim Mithani was the former head of infrastructure security at Databricks
• ▪Andrea Michi developed AI models at Deepmind that improved energy performance across windfarms and data centers
• ▪Andrea Michi spent nearly seven years at Google's Deepmind developing AI models

Perspective of Meritech and investors

• ▪Depthfirst's 300% revenue growth over two quarters demonstrates strong market demand for AI-powered cybersecurity solutions
• ▪The $18 billion application security market represents significant growth potential for Depthfirst