Daryan Dehghanpisheh
Daryan Dehghanpisheh is currently Co-founder and Director at Protect AI, a startup he founded that has been acquired and where he remains active.
OpenAI's $1.1B Statsig Acquisition and Other Billion-Dollar Deals Finalists for 2026 GeekWire Deal of the Year
The 2026 GeekWire Awards feature finalists including billion-dollar deals by OpenAI and others, a rare Seattle-area IPO, and a $5 billion mega-round, all recognized for their significant impact on Northwest tech. Voting for the Deal of the Year, which highlights key transactions in innovation, runs through April 16.
Seattle Cybersecurity Startup Protect AI, Founded by Ian Swanson, Acquired by Palo Alto Networks
Seattle-based cybersecurity startup Protect AI, founded by Ian Swanson and co-founders, was acquired by Palo Alto Networks after addressing AI security gaps in enterprises. Swanson leveraged his experience with previous startups and AWS to pivot Protect AI towards securing large-scale machine learning deployments, coinciding with increased AI adoption following ChatGPT's popularity.
Palo Alto Networks to acquire Seattle startup Protect AI in deal reported above $500 million
Seattle-based Protect AI, founded in 2022 to secure machine-learning systems and serving Fortune 500 clients, is being acquired by Palo Alto Networks; sources report the deal is worth over $500 million after Protect AI raised $60 million in a 2024 Series B at a $400 million valuation. Palo Alto plans to integrate Protect AI into its Prisma AIRS platform to expand AI security capabilities.
Organizations
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Protect AI Director 2024–present, Co-founder · current
