Kevin Mandia (Mandiant founder, $5.4B exit) raised $255.5M Series B for Armadin at $2.5B valuation. Total: $445M+ in 9 months.

The playbook:
• Wedge: Traditional pen testing is slow, misses attack chains
• Solution: AI agent swarms test continuously, find vulnerabilities before attackers
• Proof: Series A showed PMF
• Velocity: Series B in 6 months (A16Z, Accel, GV, In-Q-Tel)
• Timing: AI agents now capable enough to replace human workflows

Proven founders don't start from zero—they see where old tools break and build the new category.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/01/kevin-mandias-new-agent-swarm-security-startup-armadin-raises-255-5m-at-2-5b-valuation/

Brewed by Startup Beaker.