• 2 min read
Neo raises $100M to police enterprise AI agents
Neo emerged from stealth with $100 million from a16z and Bessemer to build a control layer for agentic software in enterprises.
Image: TNW
Neo has emerged from stealth with $100 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners, with Craft Ventures and Merlin Ventures also participating. The startup is building what it describes as a real-time control layer for agentic software inside enterprises.
The pitch is straightforward: AI agents are spreading through browsers, developer tools, SaaS platforms, and legacy applications faster than security teams can keep up. According to Gartner, only 5% of enterprise applications had agentic capabilities in 2025. By the end of 2026, that figure is expected to hit 40%.
Neo was founded by former executives from SentinelOne, Wiz, and Palo Alto Networks. Its platform is aimed at SecOps teams, giving them an inventory of every AI agent and agentic-enabled app running across an organization, scoring their capabilities and risks, mapping actions back to the responsible user or agent, and enforcing policy before risky activity happens.
“Enterprise security was built for a world where software behaved predictably. That world is changing fast.”
Warner previously designed SentinelOne’s go-to-market operation and helped take the company public in 2021.
The company argues the real risk is not unauthorized AI tools, but approved software that has quietly gained the ability to act on its own. Neo says its platform covers:
Recommended reading
AI shrinks SaaS teams as coordination costs fall
- AI agents
- AI-enabled applications
- browser extensions
- MCP servers
- plugins
- traditional software gaining agentic features
It also says enforcement happens natively, blocking risky tool calls, API access, and data movement without relying on another product.
Neo is entering a fast-forming category. Straiker raised $64M earlier this year for a similar agentic security play, while NewCore raised $66M to give AI agents corporate identities, focusing on authentication. Neo is targeting a different layer: not who the agent is, but what it is allowed to do.
At $100 million in seed-stage funding, its backers are making an early bet that the first company to build that control layer could define the category.
Enterprise Editor
Marcus follows the money. He covers enterprise software, cloud architecture, and the tectonic shifts in Big Tech strategy. He translates dense earnings calls and complex M&A activity into actionable insights about where the industry is actually heading. If a tech giant makes a silent pivot, Marcus is usually the first to notice.
via TNW
