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Runlayer

Category: AI Agents

A command and control platform that makes Model Context Protocol (MCP) enterprise-ready by providing zero-trust security, observability, and governance for AI agents accessing enterprise tools and data. Runlayer was founded in 2025. The company is led by Andrew Berman. Based in New York, United States. Team size: 11-50. Total funding raised: $11.0M. Latest round: Seed ($11.0M, Nov 2025). Key investors include ["Khosla Ventures","Felicis","Silicon Valley CISO Investments (SVCI)"].

Founded
2025
Headquarters
New York, United States
Team size
11-50
Total funding
$11.0M

Value proposition

Eliminates the impossible choice between blocking AI adoption and accepting catastrophic security risk by providing complete visibility, control, and compliance for AI agent connections to enterprise systems without slowing teams down.

Products and solutions

["MCP Security Gateway with real-time threat detection","Private MCP Server Registry (18,000+ pre-vetted servers)","OpenClaw Watch (shadow MCP server discovery)","OpenClaw Shield (active defense for agentic operations)","SSO/SCIM Identity Management","Enterprise Observability and Audit Trails","Custom MCP Server Builder for internal APIs"]

Unique value

First-to-market platform purpose-built for MCP enterprise security, co-founded by the team that built Zapier MCP (used by millions), with direct advisory from MCP co-creator David Soria Parra. Provides all-in-one security combining gateway, threat detection, observability, and permissions at the protocol layer rather than application layer.

Target customer

Large enterprises adopting AI agents, IT security teams, organizations using AI coding assistants (Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT), and companies deploying production AI at scale

Industries served

["Enterprise Software","Technology","Financial Services","E-commerce","Real Estate Tech","Any industry adopting AI agents and MCP"]

Technology advantage

Protocol-level security that works with 300+ MCP clients and 18,000+ MCP servers out-of-the-box. Real-time multi-tier threat detection analyzes every MCP request before it reaches enterprise tools. Fine-grained permissions integrate with existing identity providers (Okta, Entra) to match agent permissions to human user permissions. Zero-trust architecture enables secure AI agent deployment without workflow disruption.

How they differentiate

First-to-market purpose-built MCP enterprise security platform with all-in-one approach combining gateway, real-time multi-tier threat detection, complete observability, and fine-grained permissions at the protocol layer. Unique advantages include: team that built Zapier MCP (fastest-growing product), 18,000+ pre-vetted MCP server registry, direct advisory from MCP co-creator David Soria Parra, and deep integrations with identity providers (Okta, Entra) for granular access control.

Main competitors

["Obot","IBM ContextForge","MintMCP"]

Key partnerships

["David Soria Parra (Co-creator of MCP at Anthropic) - Advisor & Angel Investor","Travis McPeak (Head of Security, Cursor) - Advisor","Nikita Shamgunov (CEO, Neon) - Advisor & Investor","Ely Kahn (Chief Product Officer, SentinelOne) - Advisor","Theo Chu (Founding MCP PM, Anthropic) - Advisor","Khosla Ventures (Keith Rabois, General Partner) - Lead Investor","Felicis - Investor","8 unicorn/public company customers including Gusto, dbt Labs, Instacart, Opendoor, Rippling, Ramp"]

Notable customers

["Gusto","Rippling","dbt Labs","Instacart","Opendoor","Ramp"]

Major milestones

["Emerged from stealth with $11M seed funding (Nov 2025)","Signed 8 unicorn/public companies within 4 months of stealth launch","MCP co-creator David Soria Parra joined as advisor and angel investor","Launched OpenClaw Watch and OpenClaw Shield for secure agentic operations (Feb 2026)","Onboarded major enterprise customers including Gusto, Instacart, Opendoor"]

Growth metrics

Secured 8 unicorn/public company customers within 4 months of stealth product launch; emerged from stealth November 2025 with enterprise customer base spanning fintech, e-commerce, real estate tech, and data analytics sectors

Market positioning

Early-stage enterprise SaaS challenger in the emerging MCP security category, positioned as the enterprise-grade security layer for AI agent deployments. First-mover advantage with protocol-level security approach versus competitors focused on single aspects like basic gateways or point solutions.

Geographic focus

North America (United States), with customer concentration among major US technology companies and unicorns including Gusto, Instacart, Opendoor, Rippling, Ramp, and dbt Labs

Patents and IP

No registered patents publicly disclosed as of latest update

About Andrew Berman

Third-time founder. Former Director of AI at Zapier (2022-2024). Co-founder & CEO of Vowel (acquired by Zapier in 2024). Co-founder of Nanit (category-leading AI baby monitor company). Current MBA candidate at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

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