Welcome back to The Trident Radar!
The first weekly edition of 2026.
After closing out last week with our 2025 Funding Roundup, the market wasted absolutely no time getting back into motion. The year has opened with the newly announced AWS security accelerator cohort showcasing a few companies we expect to sky rocket this year.
Let’s dive in.
This weeks Trident Talks! (In person!)
Josh Keeley sits down with Chris Wallis, CEO & Founder of Intruder, for the first episode of a brand-new series where we speak with some of the most innovative founders and leaders about what it really takes to launch and scale in the fast-moving cyber security market.
Main story: CrowdStrike's $740M acquisition of SGNL, framing it as their big bet on authorization intelligence for the AI era
Funding spotlight: X-Analytics' $3.33M seed and SecurityHQ's PE growth round
Accelerator feature: Detailed breakdown of all 15 companies in the CrowdStrike/AWS accelerator cohort, organized by category
Insider Insight: Analysis of the authorization market shift and why CrowdStrike is moving aggressively into this space
Company Spotlight: Deep dive on SGNL
FUNDING SPOTLIGHT
X-Analytics – Seed Round – $3.33M
X-Analytics raised $3.33 million in seed funding through a combination of options and warrants from undisclosed investors. As cyber insurance becomes table stakes for enterprise risk management, X-Analytics positions itself at the intersection of security intelligence and financial risk modeling, a space that's getting crowded but still shows healthy investor appetite for differentiated approaches.
SecurityHQ – PE Growth/Expansion – Undisclosed
SecurityHQ received development capital from Growth Capital Partners to fuel its next phase of growth. The investment will drive continued innovation across its technology platform, talent and leadership expansion, and international growth, particularly targeting the United States market. The company provides managed security operations including SOC monitoring, managed detection and response (MDR), threat detection, endpoint and network security monitoring, and incident response services. This marks another example of private equity backing proven managed security providers with recurring revenue and clear paths to scale.
M&A INTELLIGENCE
SGNL → Acquired by CrowdStrike Holdings – $740M
CrowdStrike continues its strategic buying spree, acquiring SGNL for $740 million in what represents one of the clearest signals yet about where enterprise security is heading.
What SGNL brings to the table:
SGNL's authorization platform dynamically manages access to sensitive data using attribute-based access control (ABAC). The platform eliminates over-permissions and unused permissions, two of the most exploited attack vectors in modern cloud environments. Unlike traditional identity and access management (IAM) systems that focus on authentication (proving who you are), SGNL solves for authorization (proving what you're allowed to do).
Why this acquisition matters:
CrowdStrike is building an authorization layer for the AI era. As enterprises deploy more autonomous AI agents, the attack surface shifts from "compromised credentials" to "misused permissions." An AI agent with excessive access is effectively an insider threat waiting to be exploited. SGNL gives CrowdStrike the ability to govern not just human identities and machine identities, but AI agent permissions at enterprise scale.
INSIDER INSIGHT
AWS & CrowdStrike Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator – Third Annual Cohort
CrowdStrike and AWS launched their third annual accelerator cohort with 15 companies, and the selection tells us everything about where the market is heading. No equity or funding was exchanged as part of the program, but the strategic access to CrowdStrike's enterprise customer base and AWS infrastructure makes this one of the most valuable non-equity accelerators in cybersecurity.
The 2026 cohort breakdown:
Identity & Access Intelligence
Opti – AI-native IAM platform analyzing human and non-human access across identity systems
Hush Security – Secretless, policy-based access controls for distributed environments and machine-to-machine interactions
AI Agent & Agentic Security
Aira Security – Agent security platform with interaction gating, tool call inspection, and unsafe action blocking
Simbian – Autonomous AI security platform for intelligent defense and gamified vulnerability learning
Insider Risk & Data Protection
Above Security – Insider risk detection analyzing user behavior and intent to prioritize high-risk activity
Jazz – AI-driven data loss prevention with context-aware detection across endpoints and cloud apps
Application & API Security
Cloud & Infrastructure Security
Averlon – Cloud security platform with attack chain analysis and container security
Nano Corp. – High-performance network monitoring and protocol analysis for cloud providers
Zepo – Human-centric cybersecurity monitoring with real-time threat detection and behavioral risk analytics
Specialized Security
Fortyx Security – AI-powered cybersecurity assistant for security risk management (backed by Nvidia)
QIZ Security – Cryptographic risk management and post-quantum readiness
SurePath AI – GenAI data security platform controlling access and redacting sensitive data
Mate Security – Self-improving SOC platform with adaptive learning capabilities
The Trident Take:
This cohort composition is a roadmap. CrowdStrike is betting on authorization intelligence, AI agent security, insider threat detection, and GenAI data protection as the four pillars of enterprise security in 2026. Every company in this cohort addresses a problem that either didn't exist five years ago or has fundamentally changed with the rise of AI-driven operations.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
Agent Security Platform Built for Agentic Operations at Scale
Aira Security builds a security platform specifically designed to protect AI agents operating in production environments, addressing one of the fastest-emerging threat surfaces in enterprise security.
What they do:
Aira Security provides real-time protection for AI agents and autonomous systems deployed across operational environments. The platform monitors agent behavior, inspects tool calls, enforces policies, and blocks unsafe actions before they execute, giving security teams visibility and control over agentic workflows.
Key capabilities:
Interaction gating – Controls which tools and APIs agents can access
Tool call inspection – Analyzes what agents are trying to do in real-time
Multi-agent activity analysis – Tracks behavior patterns across agent fleets
Continuous behavior monitoring – Detects anomalies and policy violations
Unsafe action blocking – Prevents high-risk operations before execution
Policy enforcement – Ensures agents operate within defined boundaries
Why it matters:
AI agents are becoming operational infrastructure. They're booking meetings, running queries, modifying code, accessing databases, and triggering workflows across enterprise systems. Every action an agent takes is a potential security event, and most security tools weren't built to understand or control agentic behavior.
Aira Security solves the "what can my agents actually do" problem. It's one thing to deploy an agent with database access; it's another thing entirely to ensure that agent only runs SELECT queries and never executes DROP TABLE commands. Traditional security tools see API calls; Aira Security understands agent intent.
Funding & traction:
Founded in 2025, Aira Security has already joined three accelerator programs: Plug and Play Tech Center (Seattle), WTIA Startup Program, and most recently, the AWS & CrowdStrike Cybersecurity Accelerator. While no equity was exchanged in these programs, the strategic access to CrowdStrike's enterprise customer base and AWS infrastructure validates the market need for agent-specific security controls.
The company is already generating revenue with a lean team of five, signaling strong product-market fit in an emerging category.
Leadership:
Co-Founders Mohan Kumar (CEO) and Naveen Mahavishnu (CTO) bring deep technical expertise in AI infrastructure and security operations. Based in San Francisco, the team is building for the agentic future that's already arriving at Fortune 500 enterprises.
The Trident Take:
Aira Security represents the next wave of security tooling: purpose-built for AI agents, not retrofitted from legacy systems. As enterprises deploy hundreds or thousands of agents across their operations, the ability to inspect, control, and audit agent behavior at scale becomes non-negotiable infrastructure. CrowdStrike's decision to include Aira Security in its accelerator cohort signals that agent security is moving from "nice to have" to "must have" faster than most security teams realize. Expect rapid adoption throughout 2026 as agentic operations become standard practice.
HOT JOBS
VP Engineering
💰 $250K–$300K + bonus + equity
📍 East Coast
AI Threat Intelligence vendor delivering predictive intelligence on threat actor infrastructure to proactively disrupt domains and attack pathways.
Contact: [email protected]
Public Sector Account Executive
💰 $300K OTE
📍 Washington, DC
Fast-growing Series A AI-driven GRC platform. First Federal sales hire with existing public sector traction to build on.
Contact: [email protected]
Enterprise Account Executive (x2)
💰 $300k OTE
📍 West Coast
AI-powered incident response platform bringing structure, intelligence, and defensibility to modern cyber incidents.
Contact: [email protected]
Customer Success Manager
💰 $170K–$220K OTE
📍 US (Remote)
Israeli AI-native DLP vendor redefining a legacy-heavy category.
Contact: [email protected]
Account Executive
💰 ~$350K OTE
📍 Chicago / LA / Denver
Cloud security platform transforming enterprise environments with a unified approach. Cloud security experience required.
Contact: [email protected]
AE & BDR Roles
💰 BDR: ~$140K OTE | AE: $200K–$280K OTE
📍 BDR – US | AE – Southern States
Secure Remote Access vendor preparing for its next major growth phase.
Contact: [email protected]
Head of Sales & Head of Marketing
💰 Sales: $225K–$250K OTE | Marketing: ~$200K + bonus
📍 East Coast
AI Security Operations company founded by a deeply technical AI-first team, not a traditional cyber background.
Contact: [email protected]
Head of Marketing
💰 $225K + equity + company bonuses
📍 East Coast or Central US
AI-for-SOC vendor with 10 paying enterprise customers and strong early traction.
Contact: [email protected]
Enterprise Account Executive (x2)
💰 $320K OTE
📍 East Coast
Exposure Management platform helping enterprises cut through alert overload with real contextual risk.
Contact: [email protected]
Enterprise Account Executive
💰 $320K OTE (50/50) + equity
📍 West Coast or Central US
AI-native SOC platform augmenting analysts, threat intel teams, and responders.
Contact: [email protected]
Head of Customer Engineering
💰 £120K
📍 South East UK
All-in-one cyber platform helping SMEs and MSPs take control of their security operations.
Contact: tridentsearch.co.uk
Ready to make your next move? These roles won't stay open long.
📥 INBOX INTEL
Have market intelligence to share? Our network sees deals before they're announced, hiring freezes before they're public, and technology shifts before they hit the headlines.
Send us your tips:
Funding rounds in stealth mode
Executive movements and reorganizations
Customer wins/losses that signal market shifts
Technology partnerships before they're announced
Hiring sprees or freezes at specific companies
Email: [email protected]
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Editor: Ryan Keeley | London