Shinobi Security

What Shinobi Security does

Shinobi Security is a privately-held, Delaware-incorporated SaaS company founded in 2023 and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, with a 1–10 person team. It sells an autonomous AI-powered penetration testing platform that performs continuous, on-demand offensive security testing across web applications, APIs (REST, GraphQL, custom protocols), and mobile applications (iOS and Android). The system executes a four-step methodology—intelligent scoping with guardrails, dynamic exploration, AI-driven testing with vulnerability chaining, and real-time reporting—using AI reasoning agents that generate sophisticated attack payloads, discover complex attack chains, and validate findings in real time. The company claims 99% finding accuracy with 1% false positives versus a 40% false positive rate for legacy scanners, and 10x faster completion (24 hours versus 10 days manual).

The platform differentiates from traditional DAST scanners through vulnerability chaining and post-exploitation simulation (Aggressor Mode, launched February 2026), native handling of MFA and SSO without scripting, internal application testing via a secure proxy, and one-click fix verification. Distribution combines a self-serve SaaS portal (app.shinobi.security) with a demo-led enterprise sales motion and API integration into CI/CD pipelines for DevSecOps workflows. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; payments are processed via Visa and Mastercard under non-refundable subscription terms. Revenue model is recurring SaaS subscription.

The company's go-to-market targets enterprise security teams and software development / DevSecOps organizations seeking to shift security testing left. Marketing is content-led (technical blog, SEO) and amplified by earned media, including a June 2025 a16z-authored article and a July 2025 ngrok co-published case study citing a 95% demo-to-trial conversion rate. Technology partners include ngrok (secure tunneling) and Vanta (SOC 2 Type I compliance display). Founder Varun Uppal and founding AI engineer Abhishek Gehlot are the named leaders. No external funding rounds, customer logos, or revenue figures are disclosed in the available data.

Name

Shinobi Security

Legal name

Shinobi Security Inc.

Website

https://shinobi.security

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shinobi Security is a privately-held SaaS company that provides an autonomous AI-powered penetration testing platform for enterprise security and DevSecOps teams. Its system conducts continuous, on-demand offensive security testing across web, API, and mobile applications, chaining vulnerabilities to demonstrate real attack impact.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Application Security Testing

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Penetration Testing Platforms (PTaaS) (HDADAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Application Security Testing (SAST/DAST/IAST/SCA) (HDADACAC), Mobile Application Security (App Shielding, Anti-Tamper) (HDADACAL), Vulnerability Management & Penetration Testing Services (BPAEADAD), Vulnerability Assessment, Security Audits & Compliance Testing (BPAKAHAG)

Keywords

• AI penetration testing
• Autonomous offensive security
• Application security testing
• DevSecOps automation
• Vulnerability chaining

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilmington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription - Penetration Testing Platform: Shinobi Security operates as a SaaS platform providing autonomous penetration testing as a service. Users access the platform via app.shinobi.security with subscription-based access. Payments are accepted via Visa and Mastercard as documented in Terms of Service. All purchases are non-refundable and cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid term.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Shinobi Security provides an AI-powered autonomous penetration testing SaaS platform that reasons, learns, and hacks like a human offensive security expert. The platform continuously tests web applications, APIs, and mobile apps through a four-step methodology (Scoping, Exploration, Testing, Reporting), chaining vulnerabilities to demonstrate full attack impact and producing real-time, compliance-mapped reports with one-click retest verification. It is delivered as subscription software accessed via app.shinobi.security and via APIs for CI/CD integration.

Product overview

Shinobi Security offers an AI-powered autonomous penetration testing platform as its core product, along with specialized modules. The flagship offering, Shinobi AI, is a fully autonomous offensive security system that performs penetration testing 10x faster than manual testing with 99% accuracy. The platform encompasses web application testing, API testing (REST, GraphQL, custom protocols), and mobile app pentesting (iOS and Android) as integrated capabilities. Additional modules include Aggressor Mode for post-exploitation vulnerability chaining, comprehensive reporting with executive dashboards and technical proof-of-concepts, and fix verification for one-click retesting. The platform uses a 4-step methodology (Scoping, Exploration, Testing, Reporting) and supports continuous testing integrated into CI/CD pipelines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Shinobi AI Fully autonomous AI-powered penetration testing platform that performs offensive security testing with human-level creativity. Uses a 4-step methodology (Scoping, Exploration, Testing, Reporting) to discover complex vulnerability chains, validate findings in real time, and produce streaming reports for enterprise security and DevSecOps teams.
• Shinobi Mobile App Pentesting AI-powered mobile application security testing for iOS and Android apps. Maps mobile app interactions with APIs and permissions, crafts and executes real exploits, and returns context-rich prioritized findings for development and security teams.
• Aggressor Mode Post-exploitation mode for the Shinobi platform that chains vulnerabilities, follows lateral movement paths, and demonstrates maximum realistic impact by exploring multiple attack paths in parallel. Targets security teams that need adversary-emulation-level penetration testing.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• a16z (Andreessen Horowitz)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 June 2025a16z featured Shinobi Security in an article titled 'Next-Gen Pentesting: AI Empowers the Good Guys' exploring how AI-driven pentesting is revolutionizing cybersecurity, enabling continuous testing at machine speed. From autonomous vulnerability discovery to verified exploits, the article covers how next-gen tools are reshaping offensive security.
• ngrokcoreTechnology or IntegrationShinobi Security leverages ngrok to deliver AI-powered penetration testing with 95% demo-to-trial conversion rates. ngrok provides the secure tunnel/proxy that makes internal web applications accessible for pentesting. The partnership is featured in ngrok's blog post 'Shinobi's Shortcut to AI-Powered Pentests in Dev Environments' which describes a 15-minute setup process and autonomous agent deployment. ngrok enables Shinobi to test internal applications by providing a secure, temporary access tunnel.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pentera: Pentera is the most direct competitor: an automated security validation platform that performs continuous, agent-driven penetration testing against enterprise networks and applications. Like Shinobi, it positions as a replacement for periodic manual pentests and sells into enterprise security teams.
• Horizon3.ai: Horizon3.ai offers NodeZero, an autonomous pentesting platform that continuously identifies and exploits exploitable vulnerabilities. It is one of Shinobi's closest direct competitors in the autonomous pentest category, targeting enterprise security teams with self-service and SaaS delivery.
• XBOW: XBOW is an AI-native offensive security platform that autonomously discovers and exploits web application vulnerabilities. It competes head-to-head with Shinobi on the same AI-driven pentesting positioning and target market of enterprise AppSec teams.
• Cobalt: Cobalt provides a Pentest as a Service (PTaaS) platform combining a vetted human tester network with platform-driven workflows. While human-led rather than fully autonomous, it competes for the same enterprise pentest budget Shinobi targets, particularly the on-demand, continuous testing motion.
• Synack: Synack operates a crowdsourced security testing platform with curated researchers augmented by automation. It targets the same enterprise security buyer Shinobi addresses and competes for the continuous pentesting budget category.
• StackHawk: StackHawk is a developer-centric DAST platform that runs dynamic security scans inside CI/CD pipelines. While more scanner-like than fully autonomous pentest, it competes for the same DevSecOps testing slot Shinobi targets via its API/CI-CD integration.
• Astra Security: Astra Security provides an automated pentest SaaS platform covering web, API, mobile, and cloud with CI/CD integration. It directly overlaps Shinobi's continuous AI pentesting value proposition and target customer profile.

Broad incumbents

• HackerOne: HackerOne is the largest bug bounty and vulnerability disclosure platform, with broader scope spanning crowdsourced testing, HackerOne Pentest, and AI-assisted vulnerability intelligence. It is a broader incumbent that competes for offensive security testing budgets.
• Invicti: Invicti (formerly Netsparker) is an established DAST incumbent used by enterprise security teams for automated web application scanning. It competes for the same AppSec testing budget Shinobi targets, particularly where buyers still prefer scanner-style tools.

Emerging players

• Detectify: Detectify offers a crowdsourced DAST platform that combines vulnerability research with automated scanning for web applications and APIs. It is adjacent to Shinobi's offering, addressing similar AppSec use cases though with a crowdsourced rather than AI-agent model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shinobisecurity

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shinobi Security