AI security startup Alice—formerly ActiveFence—has landed a new $140 million funding round amid a surge in threats targeting enterprise AI deployments. Led by Apax Digital Funds, this funding includes major contributions from SentinelOne, Samsung Electronics, Maj Invest, MoreTech, and Phoenix Insurance, along with continued support from existing backers such as Resolute Ventures and Highland Europe. With this round, Alice’s total funding reaches $280 million, and its valuation is now estimated between $800 million and nearly $1 billion. Apax Digital will join Alice’s board as part of the deal.
Rising Stakes in AI Security
The round comes at a moment when attackers are shifting their focus away from traditional network vulnerabilities, increasingly targeting AI systems—large language models and autonomous agents are now front and center of threat vectors. Alice argues that the scope for exploitation in AI models is vast and unpredictable, posing unique security challenges.
Founded in 2018 as ActiveFence, Alice built a massive real-world attack dataset internally dubbed “Rabbit Hole.” The dataset underpins its platform, which provides red-teaming, runtime guardrails, and production-level monitoring for AI models. The company intends to use the fresh funding to grow its dataset team, enhance its model-testing tools, and expand its enterprise-level sales to foundation model labs and organizations deploying AI at scale.
Traction, Growth, and Market Position
Alice is approaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), fueled by over 500% growth in its AI-focused business over the past two years. It now counts eight out of the ten most prominent foundation model labs among its clients, and claims to protect more than three billion online users. Noteworthy partners reportedly include major AI names like Anthropic, Google, and Nvidia.
In January 2026, the company rebranded from ActiveFence to Alice. The name change marked a strategic pivot: moving beyond content moderation and platform trust and safety to concentrate directly on threats like prompt injection, jailbreaks, adversarial inputs, and other ways AI models are manipulated. This shift underscores the growing importance of formal AI security frameworks in enterprise environments.
This financing positions Alice among a fast-growing group of cybersecurity vendors building specialized defenses for AI infrastructure. As more organizations move generative AI and autonomous agents into production, AI-specific security is becoming a baseline requirement, not just a nice-to-have. The latest raise backs investor confidence that this niche is among cybersecurity’s most rapidly expanding frontiers.
Analysis:Alice’s rise highlights a critical inflection point: AI systems are no longer fringe assets—they’re foundational pillars in enterprise tech stacks and high-value attack targets. The company’s focus on a real-world threat dataset and full-lifecycle protection aligns with what enterprises need: proactive, real-time defenses. Moving forward, key markers to watch include how Alice’s tools perform under zero-day AI threats, the adoption of AI security regulations and frameworks, and how competitors scale defensively. Funding like this isn’t just about capital—it’s about setting new expectations for AI trust and resilience.
