In the age of vibe coding, almost anyone can quickly spin up a basic app or website.
But that doesn’t mean your app is secure. Working with AI as your code assistant can lead to a product that’s pretty on the outside and riddled with risk on the backend.
If your code fails to comply with modern privacy laws and other regulations, such as the European Union’s GDPR rules, for example, it could lead to a lawsuit or a fine.
Enter Feroot, an AI startup that scans websites and apps to make sure their code is up to snuff with all the latest legal requirements. The Canada-based company just raised $14 million in a Series A round led by True Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Preface Ventures, and Industry Ventures.
“Having a noncompliant website is really expensive because of litigations, penalties, and enforcements,” Feroot’s CEO Ivan Tsarynny said. While large companies hire teams to audit every inch of their digital footprints, startups typically lack the same resources. Feroot’s AI agents can complete compliance reviews in seconds, Tsarynny said, which eliminates a key growing pain for young companies.
Feroot’s AI agents scan code to check for violations of over 50 different privacy laws and regulations related to consumer information, health data, and other personally identifying details. Ultimately, the humans at a company are responsible for signing off on compliance, but Feroot’s tools can help them spot issues more quickly.
Feroot’s work has grabbed the attention of legislators in Washington, DC, who cited the company’s research in their national security reviews of apps like TikTok and DeepSeek. In February 2024, Tsarynny testified on privacy risks before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Feroot, which has raised $25 million to date, went to investors for its Series A with a simple pitch: AI can save security chiefs and their teams “tens of thousands of hours of work,” Tsarynny said.
It’s not the only cybersecurity company utilizing AI to meet its clients’ demands. Other security startups include DataGrail and Reflectiz, another website security startup, which recently announced a $22 million Series B funding round.
Feroot has racked up a client list of media and tech companies, including Reddit, Forbes, and Xerox. With its fresh funding, Feroot is focused on hiring more engineering talent, opening additional offices, and expanding into markets such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Tsarynny said.
Read the pitch deck Feroot used to raise its $14 million Series A:
Note: Feroot redacted several slides from the pitch deck, as well as some details, so that the document could be shared publicly.
Feroot’s deck starts by introducing what it does
Feroot
Here’s what the slide says:
Always-on AI Agent platform that keeps websites, web and mobile applications secure and compliant with 50+ regulations, standards and laws.
It lists out several regulations websites need to consider
Feroot
Here’s what the slide says:
Non-compliant websites cost 10’s to 100’s of millions of dollars.
Litigators and regulators hold companies liable for websites violating data privacy laws. Insurers deny coverage for non-compliance, citing negligence clauses.
Compliance sprawl with 50+ regulations is increasingly unmanageable, costing 7-8 $ figures
The slide lists several regulations, such as HIPAA, which protects the privacy of medical records.
It emphasizes how compliance is taxing on ‘human employees’
Feroot
Here’s what the slide says:
Making and keeping websites compliant with 50+ regulations is expensive, nearly impossible, and a huge pain for Human Employees:
Discovery takes forever, and it’s super tough and riddled with errors.Data is scattered across many silos, not centralized, and always outdated.It takes months of FTE team’s time to manually assess compliance with 50+ laws and standards.Results are full of errors. Ongoing manual fixes, redos, and support of many systems are expensive.
It then introduces Feroot’s AI agents
Feroot
Here’s what the slide says:
Feroot AI Agents get it done in 45 seconds.
Feroot brings AI to compliance and security processes of all Payment Pages, Healthcare Pages, iFrames, Websites, and Web Applications — replaces manual work, errors and overhead costs with continuous automation.
The slide also includes news clips from Feroot’s report on DeepSeek.
Feroot explains how its AI agents work
Feroot
Here’s what the slide says:
Feroot AI security and compliance agents work 24/7.
1. Deep Discovery: Feroot AI Agents continuously scan and provide up to date, context-rich factual insights.
2. Single Source of Truth: They maintain one database with all real-time insights of all digital assets and across time.
3. Reasoning and GenAI: Provides hyper-precise compliance verification and security analysis beyond human capability.
4. Proactive and Always-On 24/7/365 Protection: AI Agents don’t take time off, no sick days, and no vacations.
The deck includes product imagery to explain how it works
Feroot
“Security teams love Feroot’s 1-click protection,” the slide says. It includes several charts and product images.
The deck concludes by introducing Feroot’s team
Feroot
The slide introduces Ivan Tsarynny, Feroot’s CEO and cofounder, and Vitalily Lim, CTO and cofounder.
It also lists investors like True Ventures, Y Combinator, Preface Ventures, Haystack, and Stonemill Ventures. The slide lists several individual angel investors, too.
The last side summarizes what Feroot does one last time