Palo Alto Networks in talks to buy AI agent security startup Clutch for $500M
Palo Alto Networks is in talks to acquire Clutch Security, a startup that secures AI agents’ access to company systems, for $500 million in cash plus additional milestone-based payouts, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Three-year-old Clutch was last valued at $85 million when it raised a $20 million Series A round in January 2025, led by Lightspeed and SignalFire, according to our source. The startup is currently approaching $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). That means the acquisition, if completed, would value Clutch at about 50 times its ARR, a standard way of pricing software companies.
Palo Alto Networks and Clutch Security did not respond to a request for comment. The Information was the first to report the acquisition discussions.
The high valuation is not an anomaly in a market increasingly focused on securing software against bad actors using AI to breach systems more easily....
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