Engineer's AI Security Side Project Lands $26M

Reclaim Security's CEO, Barak Klinghofer, is a seasoned entrepreneur, having previously co-founded Hexadite, a security orchestration and automation company, which was acquired by Microsoft. This background highlights a common path for enterprise-focused founders: identifying critical pain points from within a large organization and building a solution to address them. The $20M Series A round was led by Acrew Capital, a firm with a stated interest in cybersecurity, AI/ML, and fintech. Their portfolio includes other notable security companies like Vanta and Cato Networks, indicating a deep understanding of the enterprise security landscape. The firm's partners include Theresia Gouw, a former managing partner at Accel, and Mark Kraynak, who has a background in the security sector. The NYC AI and cybersecurity scene is active with early-stage investment. VCs like Lux Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, and ff Venture Capital are actively funding AI companies, with an average seed round for an AI startup in NYC being around $3.2M. For pre-seed and seed-stage companies, NY Ventures offers matching funds up to $250,000 to support new tech businesses in the state. There are also AI-focused angel investors in NYC like Zach Frankel and Nitesh Banta, who specifically look for AI-enabled software. For engineers interested in building their own AI-powered tools, several frameworks are gaining traction. LangChain is known for its comprehensive ecosystem for developing applications powered by language models, while CrewAI is designed for orchestrating role-based autonomous AI agents. Microsoft's AutoGen is another framework that focuses on creating multi-agent conversational applications. The transition from a full-time enterprise role to a bootstrapped founder is a well-trodden path. Tony Dinh, a software engineer with 7 years of experience, quit his job and grew his portfolio of products to ~$45k a month in two years. His strategy involved starting with small, manageable projects and leveraging his existing technical skills in frontend, backend, and DevOps. For those looking to build on the side, effective productivity habits are crucial. Many developers find success by carving out specific, limited time slots for their projects, often in the morning before their day job begins. Maintaining a single, organized to-do list and setting clear, achievable weekly goals are also common strategies to ensure consistent progress without burning out. In the vertical SaaS space, the insurance industry presents significant opportunities for disruption. Many agencies still rely on legacy Agency Management Systems (AMS), creating openings for modern, tech-enabled solutions that can improve prospecting, sales, and customer servicing. The rise of embedded insurance, where insurance products are integrated into existing software platforms, is another key trend. For those exploring consumer and social apps, user acquisition in 2026 is increasingly focused on organic, community-led growth. Strategies like building in public, fostering a community on platforms like Discord or Reddit, and leveraging user-generated content are becoming more effective than relying solely on paid advertising. Short-form video on platforms like TikTok and Instagram remains a dominant channel for reaching younger demographics.