AI security startup Gray Swan raises $40M Series A with plans to grow its team

Gray Swan, a Pittsburgh-based AI security startup, announced today the close of a $40 million Series A. 

The Carnegie Mellon University spinout builds tools that safety-test AI models and agents for vulnerabilities, and has been cited in reports from top tech companies including Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta. The company plans to use this fresh funding to accelerate its go-to-market operations, deepen its partnerships with frontier labs and scale its team, according to the announcement. 

“AI applications are growing at an unprecedented rate, and at Gray Swan, we want to ensure that these deployments can continue without sacrificing reliability and security,” Zico Kolter, chief scientist and cofounder of Gray Swan, said in the announcement. “We have spent our careers conducting research into the safety of AI systems, and we are putting this into practice to ensure the companies can deploy AI with confidence.”

The round was co-led by California-based firm Wing Venture Capital and Seattle, Washington, investor Madrona, with participation from Obvious Ventures, Snowflake Ventures, Hudson River Trading, Samsung Next and existing Pittsburgh investor Magarac Venture Partners. 

Founded in 2023, Gray Swan’s platform has three components. Shade tests AI models for weaknesses before they go live. Cygnal monitors and blocks dangerous behavior in real time, and Arena — a global network of more than 15,000 ethical hackers who probe AI models for vulnerabilities — feeds both tools with up-to-date threat intelligence.

The company says it is working with over 20 customers across frontier labs and global enterprises, including Snowflake, whose venture arm participated in the round.

“Our mission is to empower the world to use AI safely and securely, and this funding lets us pursue the mission on pace with the frontier,” Matt Fredrikson, CEO and cofounder of Gray Swan, said in a prepared statement. 

Headquartered in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood on Ellsworth Avenue, the company is currently hiring for engineering, sales and marketing roles, with salaries ranging up to $260,000, according to its website. 

Gray Swan was the top company listed on Technical.ly’s 2026 RealLIST Startups in Pittsburgh. It previously raised $5 million of early-stage capital in 2024 and another $5 million in 2025, according to PitchBook. 

Gray Swan did not immediately respond to Technical.ly’s request to comment on the raise.