Terra Safety, a pioneering startup reshaping the cybersecurity panorama with its agentic AI-powered penetration testing platform, has introduced an $8 million seed spherical led by SYN Ventures and FXP Ventures. Extra backing got here from Underscore VC and distinguished angel traders together with ex-Google CISO Gerhard Eschelbeck and Talon Safety founders Ofer Ben-Midday and Ohad Bobrov.
The corporate is already partnering with Fortune 500 shoppers and plans to make use of the capital to increase its multi-agent capabilities, develop new purple teaming functionalities, and speed up buyer adoption.
Turning the Tables: AI for Offensive Safety
In cybersecurity, protection has traditionally taken priority, however Terra Safety is flipping the script. Its breakthrough comes from leveraging agentic AI—goal-oriented, semi-autonomous brokers that may simulate the habits of expert hackers at scale. These brokers aren’t generic scripts. They’re fine-tuned AI “staff” assigned to constantly probe every consumer’s internet surroundings, adapting in actual time to adjustments in enterprise logic, code updates, and rising threats.
On the coronary heart of Terra’s platform is a multi-agent structure, the place dozens of specialised AI brokers function in parallel to uncover potential exploits. Not like conventional instruments that depend on hardcoded checklists, these brokers constantly scan and re-scan internet purposes utilizing real-world assault methods—like an adversary that by no means sleeps.
To keep up precision and scale back false positives, Terra makes use of a human-in-the-loop mannequin, making certain that AI-generated findings are validated and guided by professional human testers. This synergy between machine scalability and human judgment addresses one of many greatest flaws in legacy pen testing options: inconsistent accuracy and lack of context.
Steady Penetration Testing: A New Gold Commonplace
Traditionally, penetration testing has been episodic—an costly annual affair or a quarterly compliance checkbox. However as enterprise environments evolve with dizzying pace, point-in-time assessments go away vital blind spots.
Terra’s steady penetration testing mannequin shifts safety testing from reactive to proactive. Its platform robotically launches new take a look at situations each time vulnerabilities are detected, even after minor adjustments like a brand new third-party plugin or a characteristic replace. That’s as a result of trendy internet purposes are dynamic, integrating APIs, cloud infrastructure, and evolving consumer flows—every a possible entry level for attackers.
The corporate’s method is particularly potent for tackling enterprise logic vulnerabilities—delicate flaws in workflows and decision-making processes that conventional scanners usually miss. By studying the distinctive context of every software and tailoring take a look at plans accordingly, Terra delivers insights that matter, not simply noise.
“Pen testing should not be only a field you verify annually,” mentioned Shahar Peled, CEO and Co-Founding father of Terra Safety. “We’re remodeling it right into a steady, contextual, and strategic layer of your safety posture. Agentic AI lets us simulate actual adversaries with higher protection and consistency than ever earlier than.”
Why Terra, Why Now?
The explosion of web-based purposes has made organizations extra uncovered than ever.
That is the place Terra stands out. Its brokers don’t simply search for OWASP Prime 10 vulnerabilities—additionally they determine zero-days, API exploits, and multi-step assault chains, all whereas adapting to the precise ecosystem of the enterprise. And in contrast to standard instruments that may’t pivot like an attacker, Terra’s brokers can chain exploits collectively, simulate lateral motion, and map complete assault surfaces with precision.
Jay Leek, Managing Companion at SYN Ventures, described Terra as “reimagining penetration testing as we all know it at the moment, which is lengthy overdue.”
FXP Ventures, an early believer within the Terra workforce, echoed this sentiment. “We backed Terra from day one due to the founders’ deep technical DNA and relentless execution,” mentioned FXP’s Tsahy Shapsa. “They’re not simply enhancing penetration testing—they’re redefining it with AI staff who work 24/7, guided by top-tier human experience. This isn’t man vs machine. It’s man plus machine. That’s the long run.”
Constructed for Scale, Tuned for Precision
Based in 2024, Terra Safety presents a fully-managed platform purpose-built for offensive safety, delivering market-leading accuracy, effectivity, and internet assault floor protection. Every take a look at plan is custom-tailored primarily based on the group’s danger profile, surroundings, and compliance wants. Whether or not it is an e-commerce platform dealing with fee fraud or a fintech app prone to API exploitation, Terra’s AI brokers adapt to their environment and evolve as threats change.
Their platform is particularly related in industries like:
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Monetary Companies – stopping account takeovers and securing complicated API workflows.
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E-commerce – decreasing danger of fee fraud and compliance failures like PCI DSS.
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Manufacturing – defending IoT-enabled environments from community intrusions.
What’s Subsequent for Terra?
Following this spherical, Terra plans to launch an agentic purple teaming functionality, permitting organizations to run simulated assaults that transcend application-level exploits and emulate refined, full-stack adversary habits. It would additionally increase to network-level testing and broader safety assessments, creating an all-in-one AI-driven offensive safety suite.
Terra Safety presents a compelling new paradigm: one the place clever, persistent AI brokers assume and act like hackers—with human oversight making certain their actions are correct, contextually related, and significant.
Because the cyber arms race accelerates, Terra is giving defenders the primary actual offensive benefit. With this recent capital and an bold roadmap, the corporate is well-positioned to make steady, clever pen testing the brand new gold commonplace in cybersecurity.