Virtue AI has announced a $30 million funding round aimed at accelerating its efforts to ensure the safe, secure, and compliant deployment of generative AI technologies.
The round was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Walden Catalyst Ventures, with additional backing from Prosperity7, Factory, Osage University Partners, and prominent tech leaders Lip-Bu Tan, Amarjit Gill, and Chris Ré.
Founded by esteemed AI researchers Bo Li, Dawn Song, Carlos Guestrin, and Sanmi Koyejo, Virtue AI is tackling one of the most pressing challenges in enterprise AI: balancing innovation with robust security. With over 80 years of combined experience in AI safety and security research, the founding team’s work has earned recognition from institutions including the National Security Agency (NSA).
Virtue AI’s platform is purpose-built to address the unique threats posed by advanced AI systems—issues like hallucinations, prompt injections, and data poisoning, which traditional cybersecurity tools often overlook. The company’s product suite includes:
- VirtueRed: An advanced algorithmic red teaming tool capable of evaluating over 320 distinct risk vectors.
- VirtueGuard: A high-speed guardrail solution designed for superior performance across multiple modalities.
- VirtueAgent: An automation tool that seamlessly integrates compliance and security into AI workflows.
With the fresh injection of capital, Virtue AI plans to scale its platform, grow its market presence, and attract top-tier AI talent. The raise comes amid a surge in demand for AI security solutions, driven by the rise of autonomous and agent-based AI applications across industries.
Arvind Jain, founder and CEO of Glean, noted, “Our partnership with Virtue AI helps us stay ahead of emerging threats and ensures that our users remain in control while their data stays protected.”
Commenting on the investment, Lightspeed’s Guru Chahal and James Alcorn stated, “Virtue AI has swiftly become a leader in the rapidly growing AI red teaming and guardrails space, thanks to the deep foundational safety research of its cofounders.”
