Why we invested in Zip Security
By Barmak Meftah, Co-founder & General Partner, Ballistic Ventures
At Ballistic, we invest in bold ideas that truly disrupt. These innovations challenge the status quo, rethink outdated approaches, and help build a more secure digital future for everyone. That’s why we led the Series A in Zip Security, a company redefining how security is delivered to mid-sized businesses and SMEs, which have been left behind by legacy approaches.
Today, if you’re a mid-sized business or even a fast-growing startup, the chances are you’re on your own when it comes to cybersecurity. According to research, a large majority of the mid-market and SMEs operate without a dedicated security team. (Even companies with thousands of employees often have less than 10 people in their entire information security organization.) To solve for the lack of human capital resources and security expertise in that market segment, we really have to think about a new way to operationalize best-of-breed security controls. We also have to apply AI and automation to simplify packaging, pricing, and provisioning of the security controls.
Enter: Zip Security
Founded by former Palantir engineers Josh Zweig and Gabbi Merz, Zip’s AI-powered platform automates the essentials: everything from endpoint protection to identity and access management, mobile device security, secure web browsing, and compliance workflows. And Zip puts it into a single, intuitive product that doesn’t require a CISO or a team of consultants to operate.
Cybersecurity shouldn’t be a luxury
For years, the main model for companies without in-house security expertise or with limited security teams has been either an unmanaged and unorganized adoption of security tools or a reliance on outside consultants and MSSPs. That model is slow, reactive, and costly – and it’s fundamentally broken. For every dollar companies spend on security tools, many spend several more on professional services just to get those tools working.
Zip’s approach flips the script. With AI and automation at its core, Zip gives customers an all-in-one experience that’s accessible, scalable, and cost-effective, without sacrificing security depth or coverage. Companies can achieve compliance with SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO 27001, manage devices and identities, detect threats, and gain peace of mind, without needing to staff up or break the bank. Zip’s platform can easily extend to accommodate all best-of-breed security controls as one orchestration platform.
Security for the long tail of the economy
What impressed us most about Josh and Gabbi isn’t just the product they’ve built, it’s the empathy and clarity with which they’ve approached the problem. Zip isn’t just functional; it’s usable. And that usability unlocks security for a segment of the market that has historically had very little in terms of options.
As my partner Nicole Perlroth said, “We’ll never solve cybersecurity until we accept that we live in an interconnected ecosystem of suppliers and smaller players,” especially ones that are “target rich, cyber poor.” The mid-market and SMEs account for over half of the U.S. GDP. They’re part of every supply chain, every critical workflow, and every sector. If they’re not secure, none of us are.
Zip understands this. They’ve built their platform to serve these businesses without compromise. Zip also scales up, meeting the needs of larger enterprises looking to simplify and streamline the way they deploy and operationalize their security controls.
A category-defining company in the making
At Ballistic, we back founders who aren’t just solving technical problems, but reshaping the way security is delivered. Zip has the potential to do for cybersecurity what companies like Rippling have done for HR or what Square did for payments: making complex systems accessible to everyone.
We’re proud to lead Zip’s $13.5M Series A and to join the investor syndicate alongside great partners like General Catalyst, Human Capital, Silver Buckshot, Mantis VC, and Box Group.
Zip is tackling one of cybersecurity’s most urgent, overlooked, and high-impact challenges – and they’re just getting started.
Learn more about Zip Security at zipsec.com.