Socket, a software security startup founded by Stanford lecturer and open-source expert Feross Aboukhadijeh, has secured $40 million in Series B funding to fortify its open-source software security tools. Backed by notable investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Elad Gil, and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, the funding aims to scale Socket’s platform, which provides real-time monitoring of security vulnerabilities in code dependencies and open-source libraries.
Aboukhadijeh noted that traditional tools fail to fully address modern software risks, especially given the intricate web of dependencies found in today’s software. He explained that external dependencies pose substantial risks, despite rigorous internal checks, as they introduce hard-to-detect software supply chain vulnerabilities. Socket’s solution is a scanner that detects potential threats like backdoors and data-exfiltration code, alerting developers to new or updated dependencies.
Socket’s platform integrates with generative AI APIs from OpenAI and Anthropic, enabling it to deliver AI-powered vulnerability summaries and provide licensing checks to ensure legal reusability of open-source code. “Socket is designed for engineering teams heavily reliant on open source,” Aboukhadijeh said, highlighting that it integrates directly into development workflows and minimizes false positives.
The startup’s high-performance detection system identifies over 100 zero-day supply chain attacks weekly and currently protects more than 300,000 code repositories for clients, including prominent names like Anthropic, Harvey, and Vercel. Socket’s new funds, which bring its total raised to $65 million, will drive the company’s growth, with plans to expand the team to 50 by year-end and further advance its security and AI-driven technologies to address evolving threats.
Featured image: Credit: Socket
