Oligo Secures $60 Million to Enhance Security for AI Applications
A startup spearheaded by a former Israeli Military Intelligence captain has successfully raised $60 million in funding aimed at bolstering runtime security for agentic applications, catering to the swift adaptation of artificial intelligence within enterprises. The funding round, which has garnered significant attention, was led by high-profile investors including Ballistic Ventures, Canon Capital, Greenfield Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Red Dot Capital, and TLV Partners. This financial boost is expected to propel Oligo’s capabilities in identifying and blocking exploitation in real time, providing a crucial buffer against potential damages caused by attackers.
Nadav Czerninski, the co-founder and CEO of Oligo, emphasized that the company had already developed its innovative security technology before the rise of agentic AI became a pressing concern for enterprise security. He stated, “We’re building the leading runtime security platform to protect cloud-native and agentic applications. Our solution is unique in that it can block attacks without disrupting the application during its runtime.” This breakthrough is made possible through Oligo’s proprietary technology known as "deep app inspection," which allows for real-time observation of live code execution in a non-intrusive manner.
Founded in 2022, Oligo has rapidly expanded its workforce to 129 employees while successfully raising a total of $140 million to date, following a $50 million Series B funding round in January 2025, also led by Greenfield Partners. Czerninski has guided the company since its inception, drawing from his extensive background of over six years leading the cyber research team in the Israeli Military.
The New Frontier of Security
The landscape of security is changing drastically, particularly concerning the traditional timescale between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation. Czerninski noted that attackers are increasingly adept at reverse-engineering patches and exploiting vulnerabilities before organizations can deploy fixes, highlighting a troubling trend for security protocols in modern digital enterprise. He shared an alarming insight: "We’re seeing the exploit window being faster than ever. In the past, you had time to patch after a vulnerability was disclosed. Now, we’re often facing situations where, as soon as a patch is released, attackers are already exploiting the vulnerabilities."
Agentic applications present distinct security challenges that traditional applications do not. Security teams must develop a nuanced understanding of prompts, models, tool calls, and function calls—and how these components interact. Czerninski elaborated on this by stating the importance of tracing activity from the original prompt through to the agent’s decisions and subsequent tool calls, down to the system calls executed in the operating system.
He elaborated, “We added the capability to see not only the actions occurring on the operating system but everything happening within agentic applications, from the prompt to actions invoked through tool calls and function calls, down to the actual system calls made.” The need for granular visibility into these mechanisms is a hallmark of effective security in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Evolution of Detection Strategies
Czerninski indicated that Oligo’s deep application inspection method already monitors the application call stack and the activities that lead to system calls. However, the company differentiates itself through its advanced analytic capabilities tailored to the needs of agentic environments. These features include comprehensive threat detection that can identify models and tools at runtime.
“The primary distinction lies in how we structure our product offerings around the collected data,” Czerninski explained. While the data gathered remains consistent, the processing and analytical methods to derive insights into tool utilization and model behavior at runtime have evolved significantly.
Addressing Vulnerabilities with Precision
As enterprises increasingly turn to artificial intelligence, Oligo’s platform emerges as quintessential in prioritizing vulnerabilities and preventing attacks. By allowing businesses to identify whether an application is executing vulnerable functions associated with detected flaws, Oligo ensures that not all vulnerabilities are treated equally urgent.
Czerninski pointed out, “We can observe the precise functions in use, and often, a staggering 90% of vulnerabilities are not exploitable because they do not engage the vulnerable functions.” This targeted approach fosters a proactive security culture, enabling organizations to address threats with agility.
Despite the proliferation of conventional cloud-native applications, Czerninski reported a marked rise in the deployment of applications built around large language models (LLMs) and agents capable of executing tool calls. He noted that all of Oligo’s customers have integrated AI to some degree, and the number of agents operating in enterprise environments continues to grow, often surprising customers with the extent of applications and agents present within their systems.
Future Plans
Looking ahead, Oligo intends to leverage its recent funding to extend its exploit-blocking capabilities further. Among the strategic use cases include providing persistent protection against unidentified vulnerabilities in software libraries, which are frequently associated with security issues. Additionally, the company plans to implement virtual patching whenever a new CVE is disclosed, placing dedicated protections in place to preemptively block exploitation.
“In today’s fast-paced world, relying solely on hygiene practices and post-exploit detection is no longer sufficient,” Czerninski concluded. “Organizations must start with mechanisms to block exploits, followed by routine patching and hygiene practices that remain crucial.” As the digital landscape evolves, solutions like Oligo’s that emphasize real-time protection and proactive security measures are poised to play a pivotal role in safeguarding enterprise operations from emerging threats.