The startup world is buzzing with new companies building AI agents. These are computer programs that can think and make choices on their own to finish big jobs. This week, we saw a record-breaking investment in one company and many others raising money to build new AI agent tools.

The Security and Safety Startups

One of the biggest stories is 7AI raising $130 million for its Series A funding round. This is the largest amount of money ever given to a cybersecurity company at this stage. 7AI builds AI agents that work 24 hours a day protecting computer systems from attacks. These AI agents can look at thousands of alerts, figure out which ones are real problems, and respond to them faster than human workers can. The company started by people who founded another famous cybersecurity company, so they know what they are doing.

Other companies are working on keeping AI agents themselves safe. Helmet Security raised $9 million in funding. This company helps other companies use AI agents without breaking their computer systems. Helmet Security makes sure AI agents only have permission to do exactly what they need to do, nothing more. This is like giving a worker only the keys they need for their job.

Multifactor raised $15 million with a smart idea. Right now, AI agents need passwords to use different online accounts. But passwords are risky. Multifactor created a new way for AI agents to use accounts safely without ever knowing the real password. It's like giving someone a special pass card instead of the real key. This company says passwords were never made for AI agents, so they are building something better.

Stopping Fake AI Scams

imper.ai is fighting a big problem: scammers using AI to pretend to be real companies. They make fake websites, copy voices, and make chatbots that sound real. The startup raised $28 million to stop these attacks as they happen. This is important because scammers tricked people out of almost 3 billion dollars in 2024 by pretending to be someone else.

Another legal AI startup called Harvey also raised a huge amount: $160 million. This company makes AI helpers for lawyers. Harvey can read documents, look up laws, and write legal papers much faster than lawyers working alone.

Helping Businesses Use AI Agents

Curvestone AI raised $4 million to help companies in important industries like banks, insurance, and law firms. These companies have strict rules they must follow. Curvestone AI helps them use AI agents to do routine paperwork while staying safe and following all the rules.

Paro launched AI agents that help companies understand their money better. Instead of waiting weeks for reports, companies can get answers in minutes or hours from AI agents that work with human experts. Paro proves that AI agents and human workers can work together and both do a better job.

New Tools and Payments

InFlow launched a brand new payment system made just for AI agents. Think of it like PayPal but for AI. AI agents can buy and sell things on their own now. Some companies already saw great results - like when AI helpers sold millions of dollars of stuff online. This is part of a huge new business called "agentic commerce" that experts think will be worth over 1 trillion dollars soon.

Simular raised $21.5 million to make AI agents that can control computers like people do. Instead of just reading information, these AI agents can move the mouse, click buttons, and type. This means they can use almost any program on a computer. Simular solved a big problem with AI: making sure the AI does what you asked, not something weird by accident. They made AI agents that write code instead of just guessing, so the same task works the same way every time.

Watching AI Agents Work

Lumia raised $18 million to help companies watch what their AI agents are doing. This is becoming important as more companies use AI agents. Raindrop raised $15 million with a similar idea: catching problems with AI agents before they cause big damage.

All these startups show the same thing: AI agents are becoming real tools that companies need and want. Each startup solves a different piece of the puzzle - keeping them safe, making payments work, helping them do business tasks, and watching them work right. This is one of the biggest technology changes happening right now, and these startup companies are building the future.