AI Funding Alert

Accel Leads $40M Series A for Depthfirst, Pioneering AI-Powered Software Security

• ByStartupStory     |    January 15, 2026

Depthfirst, the San Francisco-based startup revolutionizing software supply chain security with autonomous AI agents, has raised $40 million in Series A funding led by Accel, with participation from Benchmark, Kleiner Perkins, and strategic angels from CrowdStrike and Snyk.

The round catapults Depthfirst’s valuation past $200 million, providing 24-month runway to scale its agentic platform preventing 95%+ of software vulnerabilities before code reaches production. With enterprises facing $10 trillion+ annual cyber losses and 80% breaches originating in code, Depthfirst targets the massive shift from reactive detection to proactive prevention.

AI Agents That Prevent Vulnerabilities, Don’t Just Find Them

Founded in 2024 by ex-Google security engineers Priya Sharma and David Chen, Depthfirst replaces manual code reviews and static scanners with autonomous AI agents that live inside developer workflows. Unlike traditional SAST/DAST tools generating endless false positives, Depthfirst’s agents:

• Understand context: Parse business logic, architecture patterns, compliance requirements

• Auto-remediate: Generate merge-ready fix PRs with 92% acceptance rate

• Learn continuously: Self-improve from production escapes and team feedback

• Zero disruption: Inline GitHub Copilot-style assistance during normal coding

Early adopters – fintechs, healthcare SaaS, defense contractors – report 85% vulnerability reduction and 6x faster secure code velocity. Platform integrates natively with GitHub, GitLab, VS Code, and IDEs used by 90%+ developers.

Funds Attack Three Growth Vectors

$40M deploys across ruthless execution priorities:

Enterprise GTM: Fortune 1000 rollout targeting CISOs with $100K+ ACVs. Early logos include Stripe, Databricks, and unicorn DevOps teams proving 10x ROI.

Agent Intelligence: Multi-agent systems where security agents collaborate with architecture agents, performance agents. “Every vulnerability becomes a training example,” says CEO Priya Sharma.

Developer Platform: Public beta Q2 2026 with open-source agent framework. Partner ecosystem with GitHub Marketplace, AWS CodeWhisperer integrations.

Accel Partner Subbu Ayyappan declared: “Depthfirst doesn’t secure software – it engineers security natively. They prevent the $500B annual cost of breaches by making secure coding automatic.”

Perfect Timing: AI Coding + Zero Trust Era

Depthfirst converges four seismic shifts:

• Copilot explosion: 70% enterprises deploy AI coding assistants needing security layer

• Supply chain crisis: SolarWinds, XZ Utils prove third-party code kills

• Compliance tsunami: PCI 4.0, GDPR 2.0, SEC cyber rules mandate prevention

• Developer rebellion: Security scanners create 40% workflow friction

Competitors scan code; Depthfirst engineers it securely from inception. False positive rates near 0%; fix velocity beats manual SREs.

Path to Category Leadership

Series A positions for $50M ARR by FY27 through land-and-expand with DevSecOps leaders. Series B funds adjacent categories (infrastructure-as-code, container security). Five-year vision: security layer for every AI code agent.

In software’s new reality – where AI generates 90% code but humans bear breach liability – Depthfirst proves autonomous security isn’t futuristic. It’s table stakes. Accel just backed the invisible infrastructure securing tomorrow’s $1 trillion AI software economy.

Follow Startup Story