HoundDog.ai
HoundDog.ai offers an AI-augmented static code scanner that detects PII, PHI, and authentication token exposures in source code and automates GDPR data mapping. It serves Fortune 1000 enterprises in healthcare, finance, and technology, plus developers via a free CLI tier.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2024
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What HoundDog.ai does
HoundDog.ai is a developer-tools company that provides an AI-augmented static code scanner designed to detect sensitive data exposures — including PII, PHI, cardholder data, and authentication tokens — at the source-code level, before code reaches production. The platform also automates GDPR-related compliance documentation (Records of Processing Activities, Privacy Impact Assessments, Data Protection Impact Assessments) by extracting data flows directly from source code across Java, C#, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Go, SQL, GraphQL, and OpenAPI/Swagger repositories.
The company's core technology is a Rust-based scanner using deep interprocedural and taint analysis to trace over 150 sensitive data types through logs, files, local storage, 600+ third-party SDKs, LLM prompts, and embedding stores. AI/LLM augmentation is applied to evaluate tokens for sensitive data handling with higher precision than rule-based detection alone. A second product, the API Context Engine, delivers continuously updated gRPC API dependency graphs to AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot) via the MCP protocol. HoundDog.ai is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, supports FedRAMP-relevant documentation workflows, and integrates across the SDLC via IDE plugins (VS Code, Cursor, JetBrains, Eclipse), CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI, Azure Pipelines, Jenkins), and a managed scan service with the HoundDog.ai Broker for self-hosted source control platforms.
HoundDog.ai operates a freemium go-to-market with a free GitHub-hosted CLI scanner and per-developer subscription pricing of $100 per year on the Starter tier, plus custom-quote enterprise pricing. It sells into Fortune 1000 enterprises across technology (Replit), healthcare (LabCorp, Senseonics, Sunrise), financial services (WinTrust), and emergency management (Juvare), as well as government agencies pursuing FedRAMP compliance. The company was founded in 2024 in San Francisco by Amjad Afanah (CEO) and Joohwan Oh, and closed a $3.1 million seed round in May 2024 co-led by E14 Fund, Mozilla Ventures, and ex/ante.
HoundDog.ai firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- HoundDog.ai
- Legal name
- HoundDog.ai Inc.
- Website
- https://hounddog.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2024
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- HoundDog.ai offers an AI-augmented static code scanner that detects PII, PHI, and authentication token exposures in source code and automates GDPR data mapping. It serves Fortune 1000 enterprises in healthcare, finance, and technology, plus developers via a free CLI tier.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
HoundDog.ai industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Application Security / Privacy Code Scanning
- NAICS
- Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI Privacy Engineering & Data Governance (PII, consent, retention) (HDAAAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII) (HDAEANAG), Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) (HDAAAMAE), Audit, Explainability & Accountability Tooling (traceability, reporting) (HDAAAKAL), AI Observability, Monitoring & Evaluation Platforms (Drift, Quality, Safety) (HDAEANAF)
Keywords
Where HoundDog.ai is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
HoundDog.ai business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel
Revenue model
- Subscription - Privacy Code Scanner: Tiered SaaS subscription model with per-developer pricing (Starter at $100/yr per developer) and custom enterprise pricing. Includes sensitive data leak detection, data flow mapping, shadow AI discovery, IDE plugins, and CI/CD integrations.
- Enterprise Subscription: Custom enterprise tier with automated CI configurations, managed scanning via HoundDog.ai Broker, priority SLA-backed support with dedicated private Slack channel, and SSO integrations. Pricing is quote-based.
- Free Scanner (Freemium): Free GitHub-hosted CLI scanner providing limited sensitive data leak detection, data flow mapping, and shadow AI discovery (limited to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini). Used as product-led growth entry point to convert to paid tiers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free privacy code scanner for individual developers with limited data element and sink coverage |
| Subscription | Annual | Per-developer annual subscription for teams needing automated privacy reporting and third-party data flow tracking |
| Subscription | Annual | Custom enterprise tier with automated CI configurations, managed scanning, and SLA-backed support |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels8 records
Marketing channels13 records
HoundDog.ai product offering
Product offeringCore offering
HoundDog.ai builds a Rust-powered AI-augmented static code scanner that detects sensitive data (PII, PHI, CHD, auth tokens) flowing through source code and automates GDPR-aligned data mapping, RoPA, PIA, and DPIA generation. It runs in IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, or as managed scans, and offers a separate API Context Engine that supplies AI coding agents with continuously updated gRPC API dependency graphs via MCP.
Product overview
HoundDog.ai is a privacy-focused technology company offering two core products within a unified platform: the HoundDog.ai Privacy Code Scanner and the HoundDog.ai API Context Engine. The Privacy Code Scanner is a static code analysis tool that embeds privacy into development workflows to detect PII leaks early and automate GDPR compliance documentation (RoPA, PIA, DPIA). The API Context Engine provides AI coding agents with API dependency graphs and service context. The platform integrates across the entire SDLC via IDE plugins (VS Code, Cursor, IntelliJ, Eclipse), Managed Scans, and CI/CD integrations (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI, Azure Pipelines, Jenkins). Additional capabilities include Data Flow Mapping, Records of Processing Activities automation, Privacy Impact Assessments, and AI Governance/Shadow AI Discovery. The platform is SOC 2 Type 2 certified and trusted by enterprises including Replit, Fortune 1000 companies, and sectors spanning technology, healthcare, and finance.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- HoundDog.ai Privacy Code Scanner Static code scanner that detects PII, PHI, CHD, and authentication token exposures across logs, files, local storage, third-party SDKs, and AI integrations, using deep interprocedural taint analysis and AI-augmented token evaluation. Runs in IDE, CI pipelines, or as managed scans, and auto-generates GDPR RoPA, PIA, and DPIA reports. Built for Fortune 1000 security, privacy, and AppSec teams as well as government contractors pursuing FedRAMP ATO.
- HoundDog.ai API Context Engine Provides AI coding agents with continuously updated API dependency graphs and service context across large monorepos and complex microservice architectures. Works as a gRPC service discovery layer and context source for MCP-compatible AI coding agents, intended for engineering teams using AI-assisted development at scale.
- HoundDog.ai IDE Plugins Marketplace-distributed IDE extensions (VS Code, Cursor, IntelliJ/JetBrains, Eclipse) that provide real-time privacy risk detection directly within the developer's editor, surfacing findings in the Problems panel with actionable fix suggestions.
- HoundDog.ai Managed Scans Offloaded daily or weekly repository scanning service with direct integrations into GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. Includes the HoundDog.ai Broker, a secure proxy that enables cloud-based analysis of self-hosted SCM platforms while preserving network and data handling controls.
Quantifiable outcome
- 80% reduction in manual privacy compliance effort per code repository per year (saving 40 of 50 hours typically spent on manual tasks)
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use HoundDog.ai
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
HoundDog.ai technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration26 records
AI capability4 records
Feature10 records
HoundDog.ai partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- ReplitcoreHoundDog.ai integrated its privacy-focused code scanner into Replit's AI app generation platform, enabling 45M+ creators to detect and remediate sensitive data leaks in AI-generated applications. Future updates will add data flow maps for privacy documentation and compliance management. HoundDog.ai runs 10,000+ scans per day within Replit.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
HoundDog.ai competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Semgrep: Open-source and SaaS static analysis engine that competes head-to-head with HoundDog.ai's code-level scanning approach. HoundDog.ai explicitly positions itself against Semgrep on deep interprocedural taint analysis for sensitive data flows, and both target AppSec developers with policy-as-code workflows.
- GitGuardian: Code security platform focused on detecting secrets, credentials, and sensitive data leaks across source repositories and CI pipelines. Directly comparable to HoundDog.ai's PII/PHI/CHD/auth-token detection capabilities and shares the same Fortune 1000 enterprise buyer.
- Bearer: Static code analysis tool purpose-built to detect sensitive data flows and privacy risks in application code. Closest direct competitor to HoundDog.ai's Privacy Code Scanner, with overlapping functionality around data flow mapping and PII leak prevention at the code level.
- Cyera: Data security posture management (DSPM) platform that discovers and classifies sensitive data across cloud environments. Competes with HoundDog.ai in the privacy/data governance category but at the data layer rather than the code layer, making them complementary and competitive.
- DataGrail: Privacy operations platform that automates data subject requests, RoPA, and privacy compliance documentation. Overlaps with HoundDog.ai's automated GDPR RoPA/PIA/DPIA generation capabilities and targets the same privacy officer buyer at Fortune 1000 enterprises.
- Sonar (SonarSource): Code quality and security platform (SonarQube/SonarCloud) that performs static analysis to detect code-level issues. Competes in the broader SAST category where HoundDog.ai differentiates, and serves similar developer and AppSec personas at enterprises.
Broad incumbents
- Snyk: Large developer security platform offering SAST (Snyk Code), SCA, container, and IaC scanning. A broader incumbent that could bundle privacy-aware code scanning into its existing enterprise platform, creating bundle pressure on HoundDog.ai's niche offering.
- Veracode: Established application security testing vendor with broad SAST, DAST, and software composition analysis offerings. Represents incumbent competition for AppSec budget at Fortune 1000 enterprises that HoundDog.ai targets.
- GitHub Advanced Security: GitHub's native code scanning, secret scanning, and dependency review suite. A hyperscaler incumbent that ships free/bundled scanning to a massive installed base and already integrates directly with HoundDog.ai's CI/CD workflows as a destination.
- OneTrust: Large privacy, security, and governance platform that automates RoPA, PIA, consent management, and regulatory compliance. Competes with HoundDog.ai's compliance documentation automation but addresses privacy primarily through process tools rather than code-level evidence.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
HoundDog.ai social profiles
Digital presenceHoundDog.ai compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
HoundDog.ai financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
HoundDog.ai leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
HoundDog.ai funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
HoundDog.ai M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about HoundDog.ai
What does HoundDog.ai do?
HoundDog.ai builds a Rust-powered AI-augmented static code scanner that detects sensitive data (PII, PHI, CHD, auth tokens) flowing through source code and automates GDPR-aligned data mapping, RoPA, PIA, and DPIA generation. It runs in IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, or as managed scans, and offers a separate API Context Engine that supplies AI coding agents with continuously updated gRPC API dependency graphs via MCP.
Is HoundDog.ai a public or private company?
HoundDog.ai is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was HoundDog.ai founded?
HoundDog.ai was founded in 2024. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is HoundDog.ai based?
HoundDog.ai is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does HoundDog.ai make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription - Privacy Code Scanner is the primary driver. The others are enterprise Subscription and free Scanner (Freemium).
Who are HoundDog.ai's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Semgrep, GitGuardian, Bearer, Cyera, DataGrail and Sonar (SonarSource). Broad incumbents are Snyk, Veracode, GitHub Advanced Security and OneTrust.
Does HoundDog.ai have an API?
Yes. HoundDog.ai offers an API for integrating with its cloud platform. The scanner can send output to the cloud platform using the HOUNDDOG_API_KEY environment variable as part of the scanner command, unless explicitly disabled using the --no-upload-scan-results flag. The API Context Engine product works as a gRPC service discovery layer and acts as a context source for any MCP-compatible AI coding agent including Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, and more. Developer documentation is at docs.hounddog.ai.
What industry is HoundDog.ai in?
HoundDog.ai's product category is Application Security / Privacy Code Scanning. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAKAB, AI Privacy Engineering & Data Governance (PII, consent, retention), with a secondary code of HDAEANAG, Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII). Its NAICS code is 561621 and its SIC code is 7373.