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AI · Cybersecurity · Funding · Prevention
Ent, a new cybersecurity startup founded by Elias ‘Lou’ Manousos and Brandon Dixon, secured a substantial $100 million seed funding round led by Decibel, with participation from Sequoia, Crosspoint Capital Partners, Craft Ventures, Shield Capital, Felicis, and In-Q-Tel, to reintroduce AI-powered prevention as a core strategy against evolving cyber threats.
The founders, who previously built RiskIQ and sold it to Microsoft in 2021 for over $500 million, are challenging the industry's decade-long shift towards breach detection and cleanup. Ent's approach leverages small AI models running locally on endpoints for sub-second, real-time threat prevention, contrasting with traditional cloud-dependent detection tools like EDR and SIEM.
The company aims to secure the “workspace” by monitoring applications, browsers, and AI agents, inferring intent to block actions like data exfiltration or unauthorized remote access. Ent is already deployed with Global 2000 customers in hospitality, financial services, and defense, addressing insider risk and AI governance.
Despite the significant seed funding and founder pedigree, the company faces a crowded market with established players like CrowdStrike and Microsoft, and must prove its prevention claims without hindering legitimate work.
