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§ Private Profile · San Francisco, CA, USA
AI security solutions developer offering prompt firewalls to protect enterprise generative AI applications from malicious prompts and data.
Lakera, an AI security solutions developer, is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and San Francisco, California, providing tools to protect generative AI applications from malicious prompts and data exfiltration attempts. Their AI monitors input and output traffic at scale to detect threats, enabling secure enterprise AI adoption through an AI-first cybersecurity approach for high-stakes sectors like aerospace, healthcare, and finance. The company combines AI research with expertise from high-stakes environments, offering integrated AI security tools for enterprises. Lakera has raised $30 million in total funding, including a $20 million Series A round in 2024 led by Atomico, with participation from Citi Ventures, Dropbox, and redalpine. Citi Ventures also invested in August 2024. Lakera was co-founded in 2021 by CEO David Haber, alongside other former Google, Meta, and aerospace engineers.
Lakera has raised $40.0M across 3 funding rounds.
Lakera has raised $40.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Lakera has raised $40.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Lakera's investors include Atomico, 8VC, Amino Capital, Authentic Ventures, Balderton Capital, Cherry Ventures, DocuSign, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Monta Vista Capital, Glenn Solomon, Redalpine Venture Partners, Stellar Capital.
Lakera has raised $40.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $20.0M Series A in July 2024.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2024 | $20M Series A | Atomico | 8VC, Amino Capital, Authentic Ventures, Balderton Capital, Cherry Ventures, DocuSign, High Tech Gründerfonds, Monta Vista Capital, Glenn Solomon, Redalpine Venture Partners, Stellar Capital, Vertex Ventures, Village Global, Wilbe Capital, Wildcard Ventures, IAN Hogarth, Mike LEE, Sriram Ramachandran | Announced |
| Oct 12, 2023 | $10M Venture Round | Redalpine | — | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2023 | $10M Seed | Redalpine | Balderton Capital, Cherry Ventures, CRV, High Tech Gründerfonds, Initialized Capital, Jude Gomila Rolling Fund, Kindred Ventures, Redalpine Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Wilbe Capital, Y Combinator, Amit Agarwal, Bradley Horowitz, GUY Podjarny, IAN Hogarth, Ariel Luedi, FLY Ventures, Inovia Capital | Announced |
Lakera is an AI-native security platform designed to protect generative AI applications, LLMs, and autonomous agents from emerging threats like prompt injection, data leakage, and model manipulation throughout their lifecycle.[1][2][3] It serves Fortune 500 companies, startups, and regulated industries such as banking and finance, enabling secure AI deployment with products like Lakera Guard for real-time runtime protection and Lakera Red for proactive red teaming and vulnerability management.[1][3] The platform delivers sub-50ms latency, supports 100+ languages, and leverages a massive dataset from 35M+ attack points and 1M+ global hackers, achieving over 97.6% true positive rates and 0.01% false positives in production.[2][3][4] Recent momentum includes investments from Citi Ventures, Atomico, and Dropbox Ventures in its Series A, alongside adoption by leaders like Dropbox for safeguarding LLM-powered apps.[3][4]
Lakera was founded in 2021 in Zurich and San Francisco by AI experts from high-stakes industries, including CEO David Haber (former Head of AI at Daedaleal AI, with experience in aerospace, healthcare, and finance), CTO Dr. Matthias Kraft (ex-Head of Visual Positioning at Daedaleal AI), and CSO Dr. Mateo Rojas Carulla (previously at Credit Suisse, Google, and Meta).[2][4] The idea emerged from their realization that traditional security fails against AI-specific risks like those in autonomous systems—lessons drawn from deploying AI at scales like a billion flight hours in aerospace.[2] Early traction built on their "AI-first" approach, amassing the world's largest AI red team dataset with 35M+ attack points, which powered rapid product development and positioned Lakera as a leader before its Series A funding.[2][4]
Lakera rides the explosive growth of GenAI adoption, where enterprises deploy LLMs and agents at scale but face novel risks like prompt attacks and data exfiltration that legacy tools can't address—creating a $multi-billion AI application firewall market.[1][4] Timing is ideal amid 2025-2026 AI regulatory pressures (e.g., EU AI Act) and high-profile breaches, with market forces like rising autonomous agents favoring Lakera's proactive, adaptive defenses over reactive solutions.[2][3] It influences the ecosystem by setting security benchmarks—educating millions via its platform, accelerating safe GenAI for Fortune 500s, and enabling innovation in finance, healthcare, and beyond without compromising trust.[1][2][3]
Lakera is poised to dominate AI security as GenAI agents proliferate, with expansions into multi-modal threats, serverless MCPs, and global compliance likely driving further enterprise wins and acquisitions like its recent Check Point integration signaling scale.[1][3] Trends like agentic AI and zero-trust models will amplify demand for its data moat and low-latency edge, potentially evolving it into a full-stack AI ops platform. As the go-to shield for "AI that can't fail," Lakera ensures enterprises innovate boldly in a cyber-risk-filled world—solidifying its role from protector to enabler of the secure AI future.[2][4]