Cybersecurity startup Reach Security Inc. announced today that it has raised $20 million in new funding to develop more artificial intelligence security features.

The company was co-founded in 2021 by Garrett Hamilton and Colt Blackmore, cybersecurity veterans who worked at building detection and prevention products at companies that included Palo Alto Networks Inc., Proofpoint Inc. and Cylance Inc. They aim to transform the way companies use their security tools, with a focus on optimizing what teams already own rather than adding complexity with new tools.

The company argues that sentiment has shifted in the cybersecurity market as leaders have become tired of buying tools without knowing whether they’re helping or how to use them more effectively. At the same time, defenders are often stretched too thin to master the growing number of capabilities.

With configurations and policies that are out of date, attackers can and are easily exploiting security gaps that new tools were supposed to fix. Reach says the change in perspective has driven significant momentum for Reach, with a product that capitalizes on existing cybersecurity investments.

Reach offers an AI purpose-built platform to reprogram an organization’s security infrastructure based on who they are and how they’re being attacked. In contrast to solutions that are limited to cloud security, it says, the platform acts across the entire security estate, interrogating each tool and gathering data on who is being targeted and how those attacks work.

According to the company, the platform takes seconds to set up and minutes for insight and action, with no new sensors, infrastructure or attack simulations required. The result is that security leaders get a 360-degree view of how their products are protecting them, a prioritized list of ways to improve and automation that empowers their defenders to act.

Reach Security’s AI is also claimed to not hallucinate and not make mistakes as it was designed with accountability and reliability in mind.

Ballistic Ventures Alpha LLC led the Series A round, with Artisanal Ventures LLC, Webb Investment Network Management LLC and Ridge Ventures LLC, as well as Mark McLaughlin former chief executive officer of Palo Alto Networks and Denise Persson, chief marketing officer at Snowflake Inc., also participating.

“Companies want the network effect, optimization and operational efficiency of security platforms but refuse to accept anything less than best-of-breed in capabilities,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “Garrett and the team at Reach understand this and offer customers a path toward platforms while still getting best-of-breed by meeting them where they are and focusing on making them operationally effective on the journey.”

Image: Reach Security