- Twenty is a two-year-old startup that builds AI-powered offensive cyber tools for the US military. The company just raised $100 million at a $1 billion valuation.
- Accel led the funding round. The firm has previously backed CrowdStrike, Snyk, and Lookout. Point72 Ventures, Friends & Family Capital, and Caffeinated Capital also participated.
- This funding shows that venture capital is moving beyond just defense technology. Investors now want to support offensive capabilities too.
Twenty, a Washington, DC-based startup, makes AI tools that help US military operators identify, disrupt, and respond to cyber threats. The company has closed a $100 million Series B at a $1 billion valuation, just two years after it was founded.
Accel led the round, with Point72 Ventures, Friends & Family Capital, and Caffeinated Capital also investing. The company’s total funding is now $138 million.
From cyber command to Silicon Valley
Twenty was founded in 2024 by Joe Lin, Leo Olson, Skyler Onken, and Pete Sorrentino. The team has experience at Palo Alto Networks, US Cyber Command, and the US Army.
Lin led Palo Alto’s National Security Division after the company bought Expanse for $1.25 billion, a unit he started. Olson created Palo Alto’s first cyber operations product, which was used by the US government, Five Eyes, and NATO. Onken spent more than ten years at Cyber Command as one of the first Master Cyber Operators in the US military.
The founders have worked within these systems and understand where the weaknesses are.
What Twenty actually does
Most cybersecurity companies focus on defense, offering firewalls, detection tools, and incident response. In contrast, Twenty provides tools for offensive action. Its platform lets military operators launch cyber operations to disrupt, weaken, or destroy enemy systems before they can cause harm in the US.
In practice, when a state-backed group attacks US critical infrastructure with ransomware, Twenty’s tools help operators trace the attack to its source and take action, instead of just patching the breach and moving on. This marks a doctrinal shift that the US government has usually been hesitant to adopt in software.
The company works in a field that was hardly recognized three years ago. Palantir operates in a similar space, offering AI and software for military and intelligence clients, but covers a wider range of missions. Anduril and Shield AI focus on autonomous systems and drone warfare. In contrast, Twenty focuses on the software side of offensive cyber operations, making them more industrial and AI-driven.
Why investors are backing Twenty
“America faces constant cyber attacks, and adversaries have learned that those attacks often go unanswered. Twenty was built to change that by creating AI-enabled cyber capabilities that help warfighters stop threats at their source,” says Lin.
Jonathan Turner, partner at Accel, is blunter: “The US has underinvested in cyber capabilities for too long. Strong offensive cyber capabilities can serve as one of the most effective and cost-efficient deterrents.”
Accel’s past investments in cybersecurity companies like CrowdStrike, Snyk, and Lookout give it credibility in this field. However, this investment is different. It focuses less on enterprise security and more on weapons programs.
The global cybersecurity market is expected to reach $562 billion by 2032, growing at about 13% each year. Offensive cyber is still a small part of this market, but it is the area where governments are investing most urgently.
The new funding will support research, engineering, and deployment as government demand increases.
The Pentagon has spent years trying to modernize digital warfare. The bigger question, which Twenty is betting on, is whether the US is now ready to build the tools needed to take action.
