Ex-Palantir founders make AI-powered platform that automates the essentials for companies left behind by legacy models

NEW YORK, July 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Zip Security, the all-in-one platform for security, compliance and IT automation for every business, today announced it raised $13.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Ballistic Ventures, with participation from Silver Buckshot, Mantis VC, and continued support from General Catalyst, Human Capital and Box Group. This brings Zip’s total funding raised to $21 million.

Today, up to 95% of businesses with fewer than 100 employees have no cybersecurity professionals, according to research. That means thousands of mid-market and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – which account for over half of the U.S. GDP – are operating without the resources to deploy, manage, and maintain basic security controls. But this is not just a staffing issue; it’s a structural flaw in how security has been delivered to the vast majority of the economy. The dominant model – hiring expensive consultants or outsourcing to MSSPs – is broken. It’s slow, reactive, and too costly for the mid-market and SMEs to sustain.

Zip deploys AI and automation to fix cybersecurity’s broken services model.

Advances in AI and automation have made it possible to consume, provision, and manage security controls far more effectively, with minimal reliance on outside services – and Zip puts that power directly into the hands of growing businesses. Founded by former Palantir engineers Josh Zweig (CEO) and Gabbi Merz (CTO), Zip’s platform streamlines complex security operations, including endpoint protection, identity and access management, mobile device security, and compliance workflows – into a unified, AI-powered experience that any team can use.

“For every dollar companies spend on security tools, many spend several more on services and consulting just to get those tools working. Cybersecurity shouldn’t be a luxury only big businesses can afford,” said Zweig. “We believe modern security should be automated, accessible, and cost-effective. We’re on a mission to give businesses the automation to easily set up, manage, and improve their security – without needing a team of experts.”

With Zip, businesses can rapidly implement security best practices, achieve compliance with standards like SOC 2, HIPAA, and ISO 27001, and manage their IT infrastructure with confidence. As a result, Zip customers significantly reduce services overhead and total cost of ownership. The Zip platform integrates with CrowdStrike, Google Workspace, Jamf, Microsoft Intune, Entra ID / Azure Active Directory, Okta, and a growing number of other core security services providers.

Zip is designed for the mid-market, and scalable for the enterprise.

“Zip is tackling one of our industry’s most overlooked and urgent problems: how to bring strong security to organizations that can’t afford to get it wrong, but also can’t afford traditional approaches,” said Barmak Meftah, Co-founder and General Partner of Ballistic Ventures, who joined Zip’s board of directors. “Josh and Gabbi are incredibly sharp operators who have built a platform that’s not just functional, but empathetic to its users. We’re proud to partner with them to help democratize access to strong security.”

“We’ll never ‘solve cybersecurity’ until we accept that we live in an interconnected ecosystem of suppliers and smaller players,” said Nicole Perlroth, Co-founder of Silver Buckshot Ventures and Venture Partner at Ballistic Ventures. “There’s a $2 trillion cybersecurity market opportunity – ten times what is sold today. That gap exists because we haven’t figured out how to protect the long tail – everyone downstream. That’s where Zip Security comes in. This isn’t just a massive market opportunity – it’s how we democratize security. Not just for the biggest players, but for everyone.”

Zip Security is purpose-built for organizations that lack dedicated security teams but still face strict compliance requirements and advanced threats. But the company’s automation-first approach is resonating with larger enterprises too, especially those looking to simplify and scale their security programs.

The Zip Security team will use the new funding to grow its engineering and go-to-market, build new integrations with third-party tools, and deepen its presence in industries including defense, finance, health, and software.

To celebrate the Series A raise, Zip Security is extending a special offer to its startup peers to help them scale their operations securely: any startup, from Pre-seed to Series B, can receive two months free on Zip’s platform. Interested companies can contact Zip using this landing page and book a product demonstration by August 14, 2025 to qualify.

For more information, visit www.zipsec.com.

About Zip Security
Zip Security (“Zip”) was founded with the mission of making best-in-class security accessible and affordable. Zip builds software that automates cloud-based identity management, device management, and endpoint threat detection making securing a company and acing compliance audits a breeze. Zip works with customers across a range of industries like health, defense, software, and finance, and supports integration with industry-leading security tools like Jamf, Intune, Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace, and CrowdStrike. To learn more visit www.zipsec.com.

SOURCE Zip Security

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