Dropzone AI founder and CEO Edward Wu. (Dropzone Photo)

Dropzone AI, a Seattle-based startup that uses artificial intelligence to help companies boost their Security Operations Centers (SOC), raised a $16.8 million Series A round.

Dropzone’s pre-trained AI security agents use large language models and work alongside human security analysts, handling repetitive tasks and investigating alerts. The agents mimic the thought process and techniques of expert security analysts.

The rush of AI and generative AI technologies is sparking concerns about cybersecurity, with both security experts and hackers taking advantage of new capabilities.

Dropzone is led by CEO and founder Edward Wu, who previously spent eight years at Seattle-based security company ExtraHop.

“I founded Dropzone 14 months ago with the vision of augmenting cyber defenders with an army of Gen-AI-powered autonomous analysts so that defenders can drive back attackers and reclaim the higher ground,” Wu wrote on LinkedIn.

Theory Ventures led the round. Other backers include Decibel Ventures, Seattle-based Pioneer Square Ventures, and In-Q-Tel. Dropzone announced a $3.5 million seed round last year.

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