Terra Security, a pioneering startup reshaping the cybersecurity landscape with its agentic AI-powered penetration testing platform, has announced an $8 million seed round led by SYN Ventures and FXP Ventures. Additional backing came from Underscore VC and prominent angel investors including ex-Google CISO Gerhard Eschelbeck and Talon Security founders Ofer Ben-Noon and Ohad Bobrov.
The company is already partnering with Fortune 500 clients and plans to use the capital to expand its multi-agent capabilities, develop new red teaming functionalities, and accelerate customer adoption.
Turning the Tables: AI for Offensive Security
In cybersecurity, defense has historically taken precedence, but Terra Security is flipping the script. Its breakthrough comes from leveraging agentic AI—goal-oriented, semi-autonomous agents that can simulate the behavior of skilled hackers at scale. These agents are not generic scripts. They are fine-tuned AI “employees” assigned to continuously probe each client’s web environment, adapting in real time to changes in business logic, code updates, and emerging threats.
At the heart of Terra’s platform is a multi-agent architecture, where dozens of specialized AI agents operate in parallel to uncover potential exploits. Unlike traditional tools that rely on hardcoded checklists, these agents continuously scan and re-scan web applications using real-world attack strategies—like an adversary that never sleeps.
To maintain precision and reduce false positives, Terra uses a human-in-the-loop model, ensuring that AI-generated findings are validated and guided by expert human testers. This synergy between machine scalability and human judgment addresses one of the biggest flaws in legacy pen testing solutions: inconsistent accuracy and lack of context.
Continuous Penetration Testing: A New Gold Standard
Historically, penetration testing has been episodic—an expensive annual affair or a quarterly compliance checkbox. But as enterprise environments evolve with dizzying speed, point-in-time assessments leave critical blind spots.
Terra’s continuous penetration testing model shifts security testing from reactive to proactive. Its platform automatically launches new test scenarios whenever vulnerabilities are detected, even after minor changes like a new third-party plugin or a feature update. That’s because modern web applications are dynamic, integrating APIs, cloud infrastructure, and evolving user flows—each a potential entry point for attackers.
The company’s approach is especially potent for tackling business logic vulnerabilities—subtle flaws in workflows and decision-making processes that traditional scanners often miss. By learning the unique context of each application and tailoring test plans accordingly, Terra delivers insights that matter, not just noise.
“Pen testing shouldn't be just a box you check once a year,” said Shahar Peled, CEO and Co-Founder of Terra Security. “We’re transforming it into a continuous, contextual, and strategic layer of your security posture. Agentic AI lets us simulate real adversaries with better coverage and consistency than ever before.”
Why Terra, Why Now?
The explosion of web-based applications has made organizations more exposed than ever.
This is where Terra stands out. Its agents don’t just look for OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities—they also identify zero-days, API exploits, and multi-step attack chains, all while adapting to the specific ecosystem of the business. And unlike conventional tools that can’t pivot like an attacker, Terra’s agents can chain exploits together, simulate lateral movement, and map entire attack surfaces with precision.
Jay Leek, Managing Partner at SYN Ventures, described Terra as “reimagining penetration testing as we know it today, which is long overdue.”
FXP Ventures, an early believer in the Terra team, echoed this sentiment. “We backed Terra from day one because of the founders’ deep technical DNA and relentless execution,” said FXP’s Tsahy Shapsa. “They’re not just improving penetration testing—they’re redefining it with AI employees who work 24/7, guided by top-tier human expertise. This is not man vs machine. It’s man plus machine. That’s the future.”
Built for Scale, Tuned for Precision
Founded in 2024, Terra Security offers a fully-managed platform purpose-built for offensive security, delivering market-leading accuracy, efficiency, and web attack surface coverage. Each test plan is custom-tailored based on the organization’s risk profile, environment, and compliance needs. Whether it's an e-commerce platform facing payment fraud or a fintech app at risk of API exploitation, Terra’s AI agents adapt to their surroundings and evolve as threats change.
Their platform is especially relevant in industries like:
Financial Services – preventing account takeovers and securing complex API workflows.
E-commerce – reducing risk of payment fraud and compliance failures like PCI DSS.
Manufacturing – protecting IoT-enabled environments from network intrusions.
What’s Next for Terra?
Following this round, Terra plans to launch an agentic red teaming capability, allowing organizations to run simulated attacks that go beyond application-level exploits and emulate sophisticated, full-stack adversary behavior. It will also expand to network-level testing and broader security assessments, creating an all-in-one AI-driven offensive security suite.
Terra Security offers a compelling new paradigm: one where intelligent, persistent AI agents think and act like hackers—with human oversight ensuring their actions are accurate, contextually relevant, and meaningful.
As the cyber arms race accelerates, Terra is giving defenders the first real offensive advantage. With this fresh capital and an ambitious roadmap, the company is well-positioned to make continuous, intelligent pen testing the new gold standard in cybersecurity.
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