Cybersecurity Funding 1stProtect Emerges From Stealth With $20 Million in Funding The company’s endpoint security platform monitors behavior and verifies user intent to stop cyberattacks in real time. By Ionut Arghire | March 19, 2026 (1:55 PM ET) Flipboard Reddit Whatsapp Whatsapp Email Endpoint security startup 1stProtect today emerged from stealth mode with $20 million in funding from Andra Capital and All Blue Capital. San Francisco-based 1stProtect has built an endpoint security platform that monitors system behavior and user intent to prevent cyberattacks in real time. The pre-emptive solution enforces security policies at runtime, blocking malicious behavior at the operating system level, instead of relying on a cloud architecture for decision-making. 1stProtect analyzes the attack’s destination and intent, operating as a self-defending system even in disconnected or restricted environments. The platform includes nearly two dozen protection modules covering credential and session theft, ransomware, data exfiltration, application and browser security, runtime behavior, and identity and Active Directory attacks. The unified architecture enables organizations to monitor and enforce policies across access, systems, and data flows. Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. 1stProtect also relies on an AI investigator for local forensic analysis, enabling investigation and remediation directly on the system, even when no internet connection is available. The startup’s chief executive officer, Kervin Pillay, previously served as chief technology officer of Automation at Cisco, while its chief technology officer, Rafel Ivgi, held senior leadership positions at SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Symantec, and Forcepoint. “We built this company around a simple idea: by the time most existing security tools detect an attack, the data is already gone. Instead of trying to identify malware after the fact, we verify every critical data access in real time and stop unauthorized activity before it becomes a breach,” Pillay said. Related: Raven Emerges From Stealth With $20 Million in Funding Related: Autonomous Offensive Security Firm XBOW Raises $120M at $1B+ Valuation Related: Manifold Raises $8 Million for AI Detection and Response Related: Tech Giants Invest $12.5 Million in Open Source Security Written By Ionut Arghire Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek. 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