NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 11, 2026--
Torq, the established Agentic AI security operations pioneer, today announced it has closed a massive $140 million Series D funding round, propelling its valuation to $1.2 billion and total funding to $332M.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112510774/en/
Led by Merlin Ventures —a leading cybersecurity fund renowned for its deep access to the U.S. commercial and Public Sector markets—with participation from all existing investors, including Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Ventures Partners, and Greenfield Partners, this capital injection is a definitive investment in the future of security. Torq is driving the industry’s critical shift: the complete transformation of the Security Operations Center (SOC) through battle-tested AI Agents at enterprise scale.
The new funds will accelerate the adoption of the Torq AI SOC Platform, the only end-to-end solution built on the pillars of advanced Hyperautomation, Alert Triage, and Fatigue Reduction to deliver full operational autonomy for global enterprises and government agencies.
“Torq is redefining security operations,” said Shay Michel, Managing Partner, Merlin Ventures. “They’ve fused automation and human judgment into a new AI SOC Platform built for asymmetric threats and real-world scale. This is why Merlin is leading the investment. Our focus now is speed—accelerating go-to-market, expanding across commercial and government markets, and building the next global category leader in AI security operations.”
Torq Delivers On the Promise of the AI SOC
“This funding accelerates our mission to define and dominate the AI SOC market. We are moving far beyond the constraints of legacy SOAR and SIEM, harnessing the Agentic AI Era to deliver outcomes our customers rely on,” said Ofer Smadari, CEO and co-founder, Torq. “Global enterprise adoption of our AI SOC Platform has validated our vision for the future of security operations. We have achieved tremendous revenue growth, with Fortune 100 customers adopting our AI Agents in their SOCs for everything from investigation to response. Our partnership with Merlin Ventures is the definitive signal that Torq is now ready to scale this massive customer success into the high-stakes Federal and Public Sector markets.”
The Growth Engine: Massive AI Agent Adoption
The primary driver behind Torq’s 2025 growth is the unprecedented adoption of its AI Agents across its global customer base. Unlike legacy security tools that require extensive professional services, Torq AI Agents are designed for self-service, enabling security teams to build and deploy sophisticated agents with minimal effort.
Today, Torq AI Agents are deeply embedded in the daily operations of Fortune 500 SOCs, managing millions of complex security tasks autonomously. This "bottom-up" adoption has transformed Torq from a specialized tool into the primary platform for the modern SOC.
“Torq delivers fast, measurable value to Valvoline’s SOC and eliminates the manual tasks that once consumed our analysts’ time,” said Corey Kaemming, CISO, Valvoline. “Within 48 hours of deployment, our team was using Torq’s AI SOC Platform for automating phishing triage, accelerating alert handling, and reducing response times across the board. The results were transformative. Analysts reclaimed hours of time, containment actions became automatic, and the security team evolved from reactive responders to proactive strategists. Torq took the vision that was in our heads and actually put it into practice. My team is in love with Torq.”
Strategic Expansion Into the Federal Market
Torq's partnership with lead investor Merlin Ventures has accelerated Torq’s traction within the U.S. Federal and Public Sector markets. With nearly 30 years of success bringing technologies to the U.S. government market, Merlin Ventures provides Torq with the strategic support and deep government relationships necessary to navigate complex compliance requirements, including FedRAMP, and rapidly scale the Torq AI SOC Platform to protect the nation's most critical infrastructure.
Explosive Growth and Enterprise Maturity Validation
The Series D affirms Torq’s proven market traction and maturity. In 2025 alone, the company delivered significant customer expansion, demonstrating that the Torq AI SOC Platform is built for complex, multinational security environments. Torq now protects hundreds of multinational enterprises, including Marriott, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Uber, and Virgin Atlantic.
Torq Leads the Shift To AI Agents: Autonomous Investigations and Advanced Automation
Torq is driving this transformation through its singular Agentic AI foundation. In 2025, Torq solidified its market lead by delivering the most advanced multi-agent security capabilities, backed by the strategic acquisition of RevRod. This proven platform empowers SOC teams through two critical product pillars:
“We’re always innovating our security operations approach at Virgin Atlantic and the Torq AI SOC Platform is driving significant benefits for us,” said John White, CISO, Virgin Atlantic. “Today, innovation stems from an AI-first approach, which Torq excels at. Torq is making our security operations simpler and more efficient, and providing us with complete coverage across our security stack. Torq is now our umbrella platform.”
About Torq
Torq is transforming cybersecurity with the Torq AI SOC platform. Torq empowers enterprises to instantly and precisely detect and respond to security events at scale. Torq’s customer base includes major multinational enterprise customers, including Abnormal Security, Armis, Check Point Security, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inditex (Zara, Bershka, and Pull & Bear), Informatica, Kyocera, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Telefonica, Valvoline, Virgin Atlantic, and Wiz.
About Merlin Ventures
Merlin Ventures is the venture capital affiliate of Merlin Group, a network of companies with nearly 30 years of success bringing technologies to the U.S. government market. Merlin Ventures rapidly scales visionary companies and introduces disruptive solutions designed to help enterprises address today's most critical cybersecurity challenges. Its unique business model combines robust infrastructure and capital, technical advisory and engineering advisory, market readiness acceleration, and deep-rooted government and industry relationships that enable its portfolio to rapidly grow and scale. Learn more at merlin.vc.
Torq Secures $140M Series D at $1.2B Valuation to Lead the AI SOC and Agentic AI Era
OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister early Monday praised Pakistan and Qatar for their mediation after talks in Switzerland, saying that they “delivered major progress.”
Abbas Araghchi wrote the message on X.
Pakistan, Qatar and Iran all have acknowledged the end of the first round of high-level talks. The U.S. hasn’t comment.
In his message, Araghchi said the first real test of the understandings reached would be a deconfliction method created over the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran has tied success in the talks to the end of the fighting there. Israel insists it will continue to occupy Lebanese territory and that it must have a free hand to fight Hezbollah, which has launched attacks into northern Israel.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
High-level negotiations in Switzerland seeking a permanent end to the Iran war have ended, mediators said early Monday, while technical talks will go on there for the rest of the week.
Pakistan and Qatar, the two mediators there, issued a statement making the announcement. The United States did not immediately acknowledge it. Iran, through Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei speaking to the state-run IRNA news agency, said “good progress was made.”
The talks mark the start of diplomacy in a 60-day process seeking to reach a permanent deal over the Iran war. But fighting between Israel and the Iranian-back militia Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to threaten the diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Iran insisted it had again shut the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf crucial to energy shipments. The U.S. said traffic continued.
Negotiators worked through the night after high-level U.S.-Iran talks on their interim deal to end the war had a tense start Sunday in Switzerland, when Tehran took offense at U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to attack and his warning that Iran's president should watch what he says.
The comments from afar — on social media and to news outlets — complicated efforts by Vice President JD Vance and mediators Pakistan and Qatar to keep Iran engaged in discussions meant to address thorny issues like Tehran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets.
Before anything, however, Iran wants to discuss Lebanon, where Israel's military has been fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, since the deal halts conflict on all fronts.
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump said on social media. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
“They would do better to be careful about their statements," Iran's lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X after Trump's comments. "Our armed forces are prepared to respond to them in a different manner. They may keep talking, it is we who act.”
Iranian state media said talks had entered a “difficult phase” and recessed after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President.” The Iranian delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiating site, state media said.
Vance and U.S. negotiators including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, had met with Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for what Iranian state media said was about 80 minutes.
It was not clear when they might meet again. Negotiators were anticipating working through the night, according to a senior U.S. diplomat engaged in the talks.
The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions, said talks included clarifying what Iran meant by recent statements about the Strait of Hormuz. Negotiators also discussed “mechanisms” to ensure the strait remains open and that a ceasefire in southern Lebanon is enforced, along with “robust” discussions on the nuclear issue.
Negotiators are in a 60-day sprint to reach an agreement on the technical details that hold massive implications for the world economy and global security.
“The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?” Vance said as the talks began, and asked whether they could “change relations in the Middle East permanently.”
The U.S. wants Iran locked into negotiations over its nuclear program amid concerns it may be used for military purposes, which Iran denies. Vance also wants Tehran to commit to keeping open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran on Saturday claimed to close. The U.S. has disputed that, saying shipping traffic continued Sunday.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told the state news agency that Tehran first wants talks to focus on the conflict in Lebanon.
A renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, brokered on Saturday, appeared to be holding, and Israel's military said it would lift movement restrictions for residents near the border with Lebanon on Monday morning — another sign of calm.
But neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing.
The agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian immediately allows Tehran to sell its oil freely and paves the way for Iran to tap into billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen. A member of Iran's negotiating team told state television that draft wording was reached about “temporary sanctions waivers for oil and petroleum derivatives."
The agreement also calls for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were targeted in U.S. strikes a year ago.
Pezeshkian, however, declared Sunday that "we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” according to Iran’s state media.
Trump, in a telephone interview with Fox News, later warned that the Iranian president should watch what he says and threatened to take over Iran, in comments relayed by a Fox correspondent.
Iran had cautiously approached the talks given its previous experience with U.S. negotiations on the nuclear issue, which twice in the past year were interrupted by military strikes.
Vance has said he planned to be in Switzerland for “a day or two,” leaving much of the detailed negotiations to be led by Witkoff and Kushner. His role in the talks has heightened scrutiny at a time when he's considering a 2028 presidential campaign.
Trump and Vance have come under searing criticism from parts of their own party for the deal, with Republican hard-liners unfavorably likening it to the nuclear agreement signed by the Obama administration that Trump and Republicans have insisted did nothing to terminate Iran’s nuclear program.
The new agreement says commercial vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days without charge, but does not preclude future fees imposed by Iran. Trump made his own threat Saturday to levy U.S. tolls if there is no deal with Iran in 60 days, insisting that the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.”
The Trump administration has been working to reassure global markets that the war has been merely a blip on oil prices, as Americans complain about high gasoline prices ahead of peak summer travel. After the deal was announced, oil futures dropped almost 8%.
Markets are expected to closely track the progress of talks when they open for trading Sunday evening.
Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
A sign for the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Bürgenstock during a meeting between U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, in Obbuergen, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance waits to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, reacts next to U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff, second right, and Jared Kushner, right, while waiting to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, reacts next to U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff, second right, and Jared Kushner, right, while waiting to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and Switzerland's Foreign Minister Federal councillor Ignazio Cassis, right, shake hands at bilateral discussions at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)
A Swiss Army Helicopter flies around the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone Pool via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, right, meets with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, center, arrives at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, early Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool via AP)
Air Force Two, with Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance on board, departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, June 20, 2026, en route to Switzerland. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, June 20, 2026, en route to Switzerland. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP)
