What is Abnormal Security?
AI-native human behavior security that stops sophisticated email attacks and account compromise across the enterprise.
- Category
- AI Email & Human Behavior Security
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, CA
- Founded
- 2018
- Employees
- ~1,400
- Total Funding
- $546M
- Valuation
- $5.1B (Aug 2024)
What is Abnormal Security?
Abnormal Security (rebranded Abnormal AI in April 2025) is a San Francisco-based AI-native cybersecurity company that protects enterprises from sophisticated email attacks, business email compromise, account takeovers, and cloud application threats using behavioral AI. Founded in 2018, the company surpassed $200M in annual recurring revenue by August 2024, serves more than 4,500 customers including 25% of the Fortune 500, and has raised $546M at a $5.1B valuation.
Abnormal's core technology ingests thousands of signals from Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace to build a behavioral baseline for every employee, vendor, and internal application. Its anomaly detection engine flags deviations in identity, tone, communication patterns, and content — catching socially-engineered attacks such as business email compromise and vendor email fraud that traditional secure email gateways miss. The platform deploys via API in minutes with no mail-flow changes required, which is a primary competitive differentiator against legacy secure email gateway providers.
Beyond inbound email, Abnormal has expanded to secure collaboration tools (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom), connected cloud apps (Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, AWS), and email security posture management. This expansion was the strategic driver behind the April 2025 rebrand from Abnormal Security to Abnormal AI, reflecting its positioning as a broad AI-native human behavior security platform rather than a point email product.
Abnormal has earned Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader status for Email Security in both 2024 and 2025 — placed furthest right on the Completeness of Vision axis in 2025 among 14 vendors — and was named a Forrester Wave Leader in Email, Messaging, and Collaboration Security Solutions Q2 2025, receiving the highest score in the Strategy category and highest possible scores in Vision, Innovation, and Roadmap. Additional milestones in 2025 include achieving FedRAMP Moderate Authorization (April 2025), enabling federal agency adoption, and GovRAMP authorization for state and local government. With a reported net revenue retention north of 140% and a trajectory toward $500M ARR, Abnormal is widely considered a top IPO candidate in the cybersecurity sector for late 2026.
What does Abnormal Security offer?
Abnormal's product suite spans inbound email security, account takeover protection, AI-assisted SOC triage, collaboration security, and cloud application posture management — all unified on a single behavioral AI platform.
- Inbound Email Security· Core
- Business Email Compromise (BEC) Protection· Core
- Vendor Email Fraud Prevention· Core
- Account Takeover Protection (ATO)· Core
- AI Security Mailbox· SOC Automation
- Email Security Posture Management· Posture
- Collaboration Security (Slack, Teams, Zoom)· Platform Expansion
- Cloud App Security (Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow)· Platform Expansion
- Graymail / Email Productivity Filtering· Productivity
- VIP & Executive Protection· Add-On
- FedRAMP-Authorized Government Edition· Government
How does Abnormal Security make money?
Abnormal sells per-mailbox annual SaaS subscriptions layered over a flat platform fee, with add-on modules that expand the ACV once a customer is deployed. The model rewards seat expansion and cross-sell, producing net revenue retention consistently above 140%.
The base product — Inbound Email Security — is priced at $15–$35 per mailbox per year at list rates, with negotiated discounts scaling by seat band. Enterprises at 5,000 mailboxes typically pay $16–$20 per mailbox; 25,000-seat deployments can compress to $9–$12 per mailbox. A mandatory flat platform fee of $5,000–$15,000 applies organization-wide on top of per-seat charges, and contracts carry a 5–7% annual auto-uplift. Multi-year deals (two or three years) unlock 15–30% additional discounts, and buyers who introduce competitive alternatives at negotiation typically secure pricing 20–35% below initial quotes. Minimum annual contract values start around $25,000–$50,000, making Abnormal effectively an enterprise-only product.
Add-on modules are the primary expansion lever: Account Takeover Protection ($5–$10/user/yr), AI Security Mailbox ($5–$12/user/yr), Cloud App Security, and Collaboration Security each layer onto the base. A 5,000-mailbox deployment with the full module bundle runs roughly $234,000 over three years when uplifts and professional services are included. Enterprise ACVs commonly range from $80K at 5,000 seats to $500K+ at 50,000 seats.
Growth is driven by two motions: landing new enterprises (often displacing a legacy SEG layer such as Proofpoint or Mimecast) and expanding existing customers into additional modules and geographies. The company's 140%+ NRR indicates that expansion revenue alone more than offsets any churn. The April 2025 FedRAMP Moderate Authorization opened the US federal and SLED market — a multi-billion-dollar TAM that Abnormal could not previously address and that carries higher ACVs than commercial enterprise deals.
Who leads Abnormal Security?
Abnormal AI is led by its co-founders Evan Reiser (CEO) and Sanjay Jeyakumar (CTO, Co-Founder & Head of R&D), backed by a C-suite with deep backgrounds from ServiceNow, Cisco, Google, Twitter, Proofpoint, and Salesforce.
- Evan ReiserCo-Founder & CEO2018–presentPreviously built ML product teams at Twitter; co-founded Bloomspot (acquired by JPMorgan) and AdStack (acquired by TellApart). Drives company strategy and has discussed IPO ambitions publicly following the Series D.
- Sanjay JeyakumarCo-Founder, CTO & Head of R&D2018–presentSystems architect at Twitter for distributed ML; founding engineer at TellApart (acquired by Twitter for $500M+); BS/MS from UC Berkeley and Stanford. Continues to lead R&D and technical strategy as co-founder and CTO.
- Lisa BanksChief Financial OfficerJanuary 2025–presentJoined January 22, 2025 from SpotOn, where she was CFO. Previously SVP Finance at ServiceNow and held roles at Cisco, MarketWatch, and EY. Board member and Audit Committee chair at Dialpad. Hired explicitly to build the financial infrastructure for a $1B+ ARR company and IPO readiness.
- Kevin MooreChief Revenue Officer2022–presentDrives global sales, channel, and revenue; previously held senior sales leadership roles in enterprise cybersecurity.
- Mike BrittonChief Information Officer2021–presentFormer CISO at prior companies; serves as a practitioner voice inside Abnormal's leadership and advocates externally. Runs Abnormal's own security operations on the Abnormal platform.
- Lisa WallaceChief People & Transformation Officer2022–presentLeads talent, culture, and organizational design as the company scales past 1,400 employees globally.
- Jeff TrueChief Legal OfficerMarch 2024–presentAppointed alongside CFO Smita Sanadhya in March 2024; leads legal, compliance, and governance as the company prepares for public markets.
How do you contact Abnormal Security's leadership?
Abnormal AI's verified email format is first-initial + last name @abnormalsecurity.com (e.g. ereiser@abnormalsecurity.com), used by ~85% of the company. A dedicated press inbox at media@abnormalsecurity.com is publicly confirmed. Personal executive emails listed below follow the verified company pattern and are not independently confirmed direct addresses.
jdoe@abnormalsecurity.comHow much funding has Abnormal Security raised?
Abnormal AI has raised $546M in total equity funding across four rounds, reaching a $5.1B valuation with its August 2024 Series D led by Wellington Management. The company remains private and has signaled IPO ambitions, with Lisa Banks hired as CFO in January 2025 explicitly to build the financial infrastructure for a public offering.
Series A ($24M, November 2019): Led by Greylock Partners. This was Abnormal's public launch round, announced alongside general availability of its cloud email security platform. The company had already quietly deployed across Fortune 500 accounts before going public, with Greylock partner Asheem Chandna championing the deal after Reiser and Jeyakumar conducted 50+ interviews with Fortune 500 CIOs and CISOs.
Series B ($50M, November 2020): Led by Menlo Ventures, with Greylock participating. Total funding reached $74M. Abnormal had tripled its Fortune 500 customer base and achieved 3x ARR growth year-over-year in 2020. Funds were directed toward doubling the ML and data science team.
Series C ($210M, May 2022): Led by Insight Partners, with Greylock and Menlo participating. Valuation reached $4B, making Abnormal a unicorn. The round followed a record year: ARR tripled, headcount doubled, and the platform launched its Integrated Cloud Email Security architecture. Funds targeted European, Asian, and Japanese expansion.
Series D ($250M, August 2024): Led by Wellington Management, with Greylock, Menlo, Insight Partners, and the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund participating. Valuation reached $5.1B — a 27.5% step-up from the Series C. This round coincided with Abnormal surpassing $200M ARR and serving 2,400+ enterprise customers including 17% of the Fortune 500. The CrowdStrike Falcon Fund's participation signals strategic ecosystem alignment. Wellington's involvement, an asset manager known for late-stage pre-IPO bridge positions, signals institutional confidence ahead of a potential public offering. CEO Evan Reiser has discussed IPO readiness targeting the ability to "operate as a public company" as early as Q4 2025, and analysts view a 2026 filing as increasingly likely.
How did Abnormal Security get here?
Abnormal grew from a 2018 stealth founding to a $5.1B AI security platform in under six years, hitting $200M ARR, achieving Gartner and Forrester Leader status, earning FedRAMP authorization, and expanding globally to more than 4,500 customers.
- 2018Founded in San FranciscoEvan Reiser and Sanjay Jeyakumar found Abnormal Security, drawing on their ML experience at TellApart and Twitter to build behavioral AI for email security. Founding engineers Abhijit Bagri and Dmitry Chechik, and Head of ML Jeshua Bratman, round out the founding team.
- November 2019Series A — $24M & Public LaunchGreylock leads $24M Series A. Platform goes generally available with one-click API deployment for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Greylock partner Asheem Chandna leads the deal after 50+ CIO/CISO interviews validate product-market fit.
- November 2020Series B — $50MMenlo Ventures leads $50M round bringing total funding to $74M. Customer base triples among Fortune 500; ARR grows 3x year-over-year. Funds double the ML and data science team.
- May 2022Series C — $210M at $4B ValuationInsight Partners leads $210M round vaulting Abnormal into unicorn status at $4B. Platform expands into Integrated Cloud Email Security. Headcount doubles; European, Asian, and Japanese expansion begins.
- August 2023Crosses $100M ARRAbnormal surpasses $100M annual recurring revenue and is ranked on Forbes Cloud 100 for the first time.
- August 2024Series D — $250M at $5.1B ValuationWellington Management leads $250M round at $5.1B valuation (27.5% step-up from Series C). ARR crosses $200M; 2,400+ enterprise customers including 17% of Fortune 500. CrowdStrike Falcon Fund participates. Named inaugural Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for Email Security in December 2024.
- January 2025CFO Hire — IPO PreparationLisa Banks joins as CFO from SpotOn (previously SVP Finance at ServiceNow), hired explicitly to scale financial infrastructure toward $1B+ ARR and public-company readiness.
- April 2025Rebrands to Abnormal AI & Achieves FedRAMP ModerateCompany officially renames to Abnormal AI, Inc. and launches abnormal.ai, reflecting expansion beyond email to a full AI-native human behavior security platform. Simultaneously achieves FedRAMP Moderate Authorization in 256 days, sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Authority, opening the federal government market.
- June 2025Named to CNBC Disruptor 50 — Second Year RunningAbnormal AI named to CNBC Disruptor 50 list for the second consecutive year. Also named to Forbes Cloud 100 for the third year running and earns Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice (99% Would Recommend rating) for Email Security Platforms.
- December 2025Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader — Second Consecutive YearAbnormal AI named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Email Security for the second year in a row, this time placed furthest right on the Completeness of Vision axis among 14 evaluated vendors. Customer count grows past 3,200 organizations with 25% Fortune 500 penetration.
- May 2026CNBC Disruptor 50 — Third Consecutive Year (Rank #46)Abnormal AI ranked #46 on the 2026 CNBC Disruptor 50 list for the third consecutive year. Customer base exceeds 4,500 organizations including 25%+ of the Fortune 500. IPO preparations continue.
Who are Abnormal Security's competitors?
Abnormal competes primarily in the cloud email security and behavioral AI security space against both legacy secure email gateways and newer API-native players.
- ProofpointLegacy enterprise SEG leader with deep compliance and archiving features; often deployed as the primary mail filter that Abnormal augments or displaces. Named a Forrester Wave Leader for Email Security Q2 2025 alongside Abnormal.
- MimecastBroad suite SEG focused on threat protection, archiving, and continuity; competes on compliance-heavy use cases and SMB/mid-market pricing. Often replaced or augmented by Abnormal in enterprise accounts.
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365Native Microsoft 365 protection with low incremental cost for existing M365 customers; strong for commodity threats but weaker on BEC and targeted social engineering — which is exactly Abnormal's wedge.
- DarktraceUnsupervised ML across network, email, and cloud; broader security scope but less email-specialist depth. Went private via Thoma Bravo acquisition in 2024 for $5.32B.
- IRONSCALESAI threat detection combined with phishing simulation and end-user training; targets mid-market and organizations prioritizing the human/awareness side of security.
- Sublime SecurityOpen, developer-friendly email detection platform using specialized AI agents and a Distributed Detection Model; competes on customizability and transparency vs. Abnormal's behavioral black-box approach.
Abnormal Security — frequently asked questions
