• Startup Pulse
    altM raises $10.3 million in a Series A round led by Rainmatter by Zerodha and Mela Ventures, with Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures, Spectrum Impact and strategic angel investors participating. Venomics AI raises $2.7 million in a pre-seed round co-led by Speciale Invest and South Park Commons, with Operators Studio participating. EloElo Group raises $80 million in a Series C round led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, with MIT Investment Co. and existing investors participating. Peppermint Robotics raises ₹100 crore (approximately $10.5 million) in a Pre-Series B round led by pi Ventures and Crane Venture Partners, with Asiana Fund participating. Traversal raises $120 million in a Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint and Khosla Ventures, with Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures and Amex Ventures participating. GIVA raises over $100 million in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The Croffle Guys raises ₹14 crore in a round led by V3 Ventures, with N.A.N Partners participating. Solgram raises over $1 million in a pre-seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital, with Kapil Chopra participating. Sachin Tendulkar makes a strategic investment in Metasports Interactive, the company behind Hitwicket. The amount was not disclosed. Hyeglo Beauty raises ₹7 crore in a round led by Sauce, with Giga Capital, Consumer Collective, Reckitt's Arjun Purkayastha and The Patient Capital participating. altM raises $10.3 million in a Series A round led by Rainmatter by Zerodha and Mela Ventures, with Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures, Spectrum Impact and strategic angel investors participating. Venomics AI raises $2.7 million in a pre-seed round co-led by Speciale Invest and South Park Commons, with Operators Studio participating. EloElo Group raises $80 million in a Series C round led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, with MIT Investment Co. and existing investors participating. Peppermint Robotics raises ₹100 crore (approximately $10.5 million) in a Pre-Series B round led by pi Ventures and Crane Venture Partners, with Asiana Fund participating. Traversal raises $120 million in a Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint and Khosla Ventures, with Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures and Amex Ventures participating. GIVA raises over $100 million in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The Croffle Guys raises ₹14 crore in a round led by V3 Ventures, with N.A.N Partners participating. Solgram raises over $1 million in a pre-seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital, with Kapil Chopra participating. Sachin Tendulkar makes a strategic investment in Metasports Interactive, the company behind Hitwicket. The amount was not disclosed. Hyeglo Beauty raises ₹7 crore in a round led by Sauce, with Giga Capital, Consumer Collective, Reckitt's Arjun Purkayastha and The Patient Capital participating.
  • CrowdStrike Positions Endpoint as Epicenter for AI Security with New Falcon Platform Innovations

    AI security

    Bengaluru: CrowdStrike has announced a new set of capabilities across its Falcon platform, positioning the endpoint as the epicenter for AI security.

    The latest innovations are designed to extend AI agent discovery, governance, and runtime protection across endpoints, SaaS, browser, and cloud environments, strengthening enterprise-wide AI security frameworks.

    With the rapid rise of autonomous AI systems, AI security has become a critical priority for organizations worldwide. CrowdStrike’s latest platform advancements aim to bridge the gap between AI adoption and security enforcement by delivering real-time visibility and control over AI agents operating across diverse environments.

    Also Read: CrowdStrike Global Threat Report 2026 Warns of AI Arms Race in Cybersecurity

    Endpoint Becomes Central to AI Security Strategy

    As AI agents gain autonomy and system-level privileges, the endpoint has emerged as the primary enforcement layer for AI security. AI systems are now capable of executing commands, accessing sensitive data, and triggering workflows directly at the endpoint—often in ways that mimic legitimate user behavior.

    Traditional security mechanisms, including legacy and network-based controls, were not built to manage such dynamic AI-driven operations.

    By embedding AI security controls directly at the point of execution, CrowdStrike addresses this evolving threat landscape and enhances real-time governance.

    “AI agents are fundamentally changing how technology operates and how it must be secured,” said Michael Sentonas, president of CrowdStrike.

    “Security built for static applications can’t keep up with autonomous systems. Organizations need real-time visibility and control over AI behavior wherever it runs. CrowdStrike is that new standard.”

    New Falcon Capabilities Strengthen AI Security at the Endpoint

    To address emerging AI risks, CrowdStrike has introduced several innovations that enhance AI security directly at the endpoint:

    • EDR AI Runtime Protection: Provides runtime visibility into AI behavior, capturing commands, scripts, file activity, and network connections. Suspicious activities can be traced back to their origin, enabling immediate response, including endpoint isolation.
    • Shadow AI Discovery for Endpoint: Automatically identifies AI applications, agents, LLM runtimes, MCP servers, and development tools, helping security teams assess deployment risks and potential exposure.
    • AIDR for Endpoint: Extends prompt-layer protection to AI applications such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor. It enables real-time prompt inspection and detection of injection attacks, data leaks, and policy violations.

    According to CrowdStrike, its sensors currently detect more than 1,800 distinct AI applications across enterprise devices, representing nearly 160 million unique application instances—highlighting the scale and urgency of AI security challenges.

    Extending AI Security Across SaaS, Browser, and Cloud

    Beyond endpoints, AI agents increasingly operate across SaaS platforms, browsers, and cloud workloads—often with elevated permissions.

    Strengthening AI security across these layers, CrowdStrike has expanded its capabilities following its acquisition of Seraphic, enabling runtime protection at the browser level.

    Also Read: QNu Labs Presents Scalable Quantum Cybersecurity for AI Infrastructure Under IndiaAI Mission

    Key enhancements include:

    • Shadow SaaS and AI Agent Discovery: Offers visibility into AI agent activity, permissions, and data access across platforms like Microsoft Copilot Power Platform, Salesforce Agentforce, ChatGPT Enterprise, OpenAI Enterprise GPT, and Nexos.ai.
    • AIDR for Copilot Studio Agents: Monitors prompts, data interactions, and behavior of AI agents in real time to detect threats and policy violations.
    • Shadow AI Discovery for Cloud: Identifies ungoverned AI systems, LLM connections, and sensitive data exposure across cloud infrastructure.
    • AIDR for Cloud: Secures containerized AI workloads interacting with APIs, including those aligned with OpenAI specifications.
    • AI Data Flow Discovery for Cloud: Provides real-time insights into how sensitive data moves through AI systems, enabling automated responses via unified workflows.

    Closing the AI Security Gap

    As enterprises accelerate AI adoption, the need for robust AI security solutions has intensified.

    By redefining the endpoint as the core enforcement layer and extending protection across SaaS, browser, and cloud ecosystems, CrowdStrike aims to establish a unified and scalable approach to securing AI-driven environments.

    Author

    • Salil Urunkar

      Salil Urunkar is a senior journalist and the editorial mind behind Sahyadri Startups. With years of experience covering Pune’s entrepreneurial rise, he’s passionate about telling the real stories of founders, disruptors, and game-changers.

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