AI security startup Outtake raises $40M from Iconiq, Satya Nadella, Bill Ackman, and other big names - TechCrunch

Outtake, which makes an agentic cybersecurity platform to help enterprises detect, investigate, and take down identity fraud, has raised a $40 million Series B round of funding. While that might not sound like a lot given the huge sums some AI companies are raising, the names involved in this financing reads like a tech industry who’s who. The round was led by Iconiq’s Murali Joshi, who helped lead the firm’s investments in companies like Anthropic, Datadog, Drata, 1Password, among others. Angels who invested include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora; Pershing Square Holdings CEO Bill Ackman; Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar; Anduril co-founder Trae Stephens; Former OpenAI VP Bob McGrew; Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, and Former AT&T CEO John Donovan. Whew! The reason for the excitement? Outtake, founded in 2023 by a former Palantir engineer, Alex Dhillon, has found a way to automate what has largely been the manual problem of spotting and taking down digital identity posers: impersonation accounts, malicious domains posing as the company’s, rogue apps, fraudulent ads, and more. This problem has grown even more difficult because AI has enabled attackers to be more convincing and faster in their efforts. “We kept hearing whispers in our network about an AI company that was finally solving digital misrepresentation at scale. Honestly, we were skeptical,” Joshi told TechCrunch. “Historically, detection and takedown was (and to some extent even today) a manual, human-intensive process that couldn’t keep up with the speed of the internet.” But once Iconiq looked at the product and did its due diligence with customers, the investor became a believer, he said. “They’ve turned a ‘human problem’ into a ‘software problem.’ Seeing AI take down digital frauds in real time is a game-changer for brand safety,” he said. Disrupt 2026: The tech ecosystem, all in one room Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $400. San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026 REGISTER NOW Dhillon told TechCrunch his experience at Palantir is what led him to gaining so many notable angels. “I worked directly for Shyam Sankar at Palantir when I was part of the experimental product team,” he explained. This led him to meet many of the Palantir powers, current and former, including Stephens, who worked there in its earlier years. (Stephens is also a VC for Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.) One introduction led to another which led to moguls writing checks. Outtake names among its customers OpenAI, Pershing Square, AppLovin, and federal agencies. OpenAI even profiled the company in July 2025 as an example of an agentic startup built on its reasoning models. The company says it has seen major growth all around, with annual recurring revenue increasing sixfold year-over-year and its customer base growing more than tenfold. Last year alone, Outtake says, its systems scanned 20 million potential cyberattacks. Topics digital identity, ICONIQ, outtake, Security, Startups Julie Bort Venture Editor Julie Bort is the Startups/Venture Desk editor for TechCrunch. You can contact or verify outreach from Julie by emailing julie.bort@techcrunch.com or via @Julie188 on X. View Bio April 30 San Francisco, CA StrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF. Get in the room for unfiltered fireside chats with industry leaders, insider VC insights, and high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. REGISTER NOW Most Popular Anthropic took down thousands of GitHub repos trying to yank its leaked source code — a move the company says was an accident The reputation of troubled YC startup Delve has gotten even worse Anthropic is having a month Google is now letting users in the US change their Gmail address Allbirds is selling for $39M. It raised nearly 10 times that amount in its IPO. Why OpenAI really shut down Sora The Pixel 10a doesn’t have a camera bump, and it’s great