Israeli startup Irregular has emerged from stealth with a major $80 million funding round, positioning itself as a pioneering AI security lab dedicated to testing and hardening advanced AI models. The round was led by Sequoia Capital and Redpoint Ventures, with additional backing from well-known local investors such as Assaf Rappaport and Ofir Ehrlich. Founded in 2023 by Dan Lahav (CEO) and Omer Nevo (CTO), the company has already grown to a team of about 25 employees and is reporting meaningful early revenue, including contracts with leading AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic, alongside government clients.
Irregular’s mission centers on safeguarding the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem by identifying vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them. Its lab simulates adversarial and real-world conditions, stress-testing systems to reveal weaknesses in areas ranging from antivirus bypasses to potential autonomous offensive operations. This approach aims to anticipate the harms that generative and agentic AI could enable, ensuring defenses are designed and implemented before deployment at scale.
The funding reflects a broader recognition across the technology landscape that AI’s success hinges not only on building ever more powerful models but also on securing them against misuse, accidents, and novel threat vectors. As enterprises and governments accelerate adoption, the demand for proactive AI security has intensified. With its strong investor backing and early traction, Irregular is positioning itself to become a foundational player in this emerging layer of the AI infrastructure stack.
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