# Half of identity funding rounds pitch AI agents, but agent startups raise no bigger checks Source: https://startwithidentity.com/blog/2026-11-05-half-of-identity-funding-rounds-pitch-ai-agents/ Last updated: 2026-11-05 License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL. --- Of the 99 identity-security equity rounds announced between January 2025 and October 2026, 49 were for companies or rounds that explicitly targeted AI agents or non-human identities. That pitch did not buy a bigger check. The [median agent-focused seed was $9.8 million against $9.5 million for other identity startups, and the median Series A $20.0 million against $21.3 million](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-4). Those are the headline results of the [Identity Funding Report 2026](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/), which SWI published on October 31 together with the round-by-round dataset behind it. ## What the dataset is The dataset holds 101 funding rounds announced from January 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026 at 89 identity-security companies: 99 equity rounds and two debt facilities. It covers IAM, CIAM, IGA, PAM, ITDR, non-human and AI-agent identity, secrets, identity verification and KYC, authorization, MFA, decentralized identity and PKI. Every row has these fields: - the company and its SWI vendor profile, where one exists - the round, and whether the source actually named the stage - the amount and the valuation, each with a status: **disclosed** (the company or an investor said it), **reported** (a named outlet reported it) or **undisclosed** - the announcement date, the lead investors and the headquarters country - an agent-focus flag - any later acquisition from SWI's [acquisitions record](https://startwithidentity.com/acquisitions/) - a source URL and the date SWI checked it The headline numbers: [$4.40 billion in priced equity capital](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-1), $2.18 billion in 2025 and $2.22 billion in 2026 to October 31. Two late-stage deals, [Keyfactor](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/pki/keyfactor/)'s growth investment of more than $1 billion and [Saviynt](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iga/saviynt/)'s $700 million round, [account for 39% of it](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-2). ## Why SWI built it Identity funding news arrives one press release at a time. Totals for the market usually come from paid databases or from cybersecurity-wide counts in which identity is one line. Neither tells a buyer whether a $60 million seed is normal, or tells a founder what a Series A in identity looks like. Most also do not separate an amount the company stated from one a reporter heard. SWI already tracks who buys identity companies, in the [Identity Consolidation Report 2026](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-consolidation-report-2026/). This dataset covers the other half of the same market: where the money goes in, and how often it comes out as an acquisition. ## How to use it ### CISOs and buyers: vendor viability A recent round means runway. The report adds a caution. [Seven of the 89 funded companies had been acquired by October 31, a median of 224 days after their last round](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-8). [Oasis Security](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ai-identity/oasis-security/) agreed to sell to Cyera 131 days after a $120 million Series B. [Apono](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/pam/apono/) went to 1Password, and [Veza](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iga/veza/) to ServiceNow. Before you sign a multi-year contract with a recently funded vendor, look it up in the CSV. If its last round was within the past year, negotiate change-of-control and data-export terms as if a sale were likely, because for this group it often was. ### Analysts and research organizations: sizing and citations The [CSV](https://startwithidentity.com/data/reports/identity-funding-2026.csv) and [JSON](https://startwithidentity.com/data/reports/identity-funding-2026.json) are free under CC BY 4.0. Filter by category, stage, region or amount status and rebuild any figure in the report. The `amount_status` column lets you report a disclosed-only total ($4.10 billion) separately from one that includes press-reported figures. Treat every total as a floor: the data covers announced rounds only and leans on English-language press. ### Founders and investors: stage benchmarks Use [the stage medians](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-5): $3.0 million at pre-seed, $9.5 million at seed, $20.0 million at Series A and $40.0 million at Series B, counting only priced rounds whose stage the source named. Then use the outliers to calibrate. Six seeds of $20 million or more [hold 55% of all seed capital](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-6), which the report calls the mega-seed share, and four of the six went to Israeli companies. European founders should note the [regional gap](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-7): a median European round of $7.8 million against $30.0 million in the US. ### Journalists: check the number before you quote it When you write about a new identity round, the dataset gives you context in one lookup: the median for that stage, the category's total, and whether the company's last valuation was disclosed or only reported. The [share of rounds pitched at AI agents](https://startwithidentity.com/reports/identity-funding-report-2026/#finding-3) is a sourced figure you can cite instead of an impression. SWI's own reporting on individual rounds, such as [Infisical's $40 million Series B](https://startwithidentity.com/blog/2026-10-27-infisical-raises-40-million-series-b-for-secrets-and-ai-agent-credentials/), links back to the same record. ## How to cite it and send corrections Cite it as: StartWithIdentity.com, *Identity Funding Report 2026*, snapshot October 31, 2026, with a link to the report. Each key finding has a stable anchor (`#finding-1` to `#finding-8`), so you can link the exact figure you use. The data is a dated snapshot, and it is incomplete where announcements were missed: non-English press, quiet raises, and the last weeks before the snapshot. If you know of a missing round or a wrong figure, [send it with a source](https://startwithidentity.com/contact/). Corrections are credited and go into the next update.