NewCore Secures AI Agent Identities: Emerges from Stealth with $66M Funding
NewCore Secures AI Agent Identities: Emerges from Stealth with $66M Funding
Summary
Cybersecurity startup NewCore has emerged from stealth with $66 million in funding to address identity and access management (IAM) specifically for autonomous AI agents (“software employees”) in enterprise workflows. Valued at $300 million post-money, the startup aims to provide authentication, governance, and control mechanisms for the rapidly growing machine workforce.
What happened?
- Stealth Exit & Funding: NewCore announced a $66 million seed funding round as it officially emerged from stealth.
- Lead Investors: The round was led by cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm Cyberstarts, with participation from Index Ventures and Evolution Equity Partners.
- Valuation: The investment values the startup at $300 million.
- Experienced Leadership: NewCore was co-founded by CEO Zohar Alon (former founder of Dome9), CTO Amihai Neiderman (former Unit 8200 research leader and founder of Nym Health), and Chief Commercial Officer Erez Yarkoni (former CIO of T-Mobile USA).
Why it matters
As enterprises shift from using AI tools to deploying autonomous AI agents, security boundaries are starting to blur. Traditional identity platforms, such as Okta and Microsoft Entra, were built around human identity lifecycles. Managing highly autonomous agents through simple service accounts or static API keys creates massive security vulnerabilities. NewCore treats AI agents as first-class identities with dedicated permissions, lifecycle controls, and immediate revocation protocols.
Evidence
- Expanding Digital Workforce: Goldman Sachs previously tested the Devin AI coding agent as a “new employee,” while McKinsey has reported deploying over 25,000 AI agents alongside its 60,000 human employees.
- Market Projections: TCS Chairman N. Chandrasekaran recently stated that the scale of AI agent deployments in tech firms could soon equal the size of their human workforce.
- Proven Founders: The co-founders’ successful track records (including the acquisition of Dome9 by Check Point) validate investor confidence in the critical nature of agentic security.
Analysis
NewCore’s platform introduces two major innovations compared to legacy identity providers:
- Split-Key Architecture: Cryptographic credentials are divided between the customer and the platform, eliminating single points of compromise.
- “Agentic Skill” Integrations: Tailored integration packages for coding assistants (such as Anthropic’s Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex, and Cursor) allow these tools to access enterprise resources as managed identities rather than via hardcoded credentials. In addition, NewCore provides a mobile app allowing human operators to quickly grant, review, or revoke permissions, ensuring necessary human-in-the-loop oversight.
Practical Takeaways
For enterprise security leaders:
- Inventory AI Assets: Map all active AI agents and developer-focused coding tools (e.g. Cursor or Claude Code) currently running in your environment.
- Enforce Least Privilege: Do not share employee logins or high-privilege service accounts with AI agents. Apply granular, time-bound permissions.
- Assess Legacy IAM Scalability: Determine whether your current identity providers can handle the projected surge in non-human machine identities.
Open Questions
- Will specialized agent-IAM emerge as a standalone security category, or will legacy giants absorb the niche through acquisitions?
- How will companies prevent “approval fatigue” as human managers are asked to review hundreds of automated permission requests via the mobile app?