Palo Alto Networks in talks to buy AI agent security startup Clutch for $500M

Three-year-old Clutch was last valued at $85 million when it raised a $20 million Series A round in January 2025, led by Lightspeed and SignalFire, according to our source.  The startup is currently approaching $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). That means the acquisition, if completed, would value Clutch at about 50 times its ARR, a standard way of pricing software companies.

Palo Alto Networks and Clutch Security did not respond to a request for comment. The Information was the first to report the acquisition discussions.

If the deal happens, it would be Palo Alto Networks’ seventh acquisition this year, according to PitchBook.  The cybersecurity giant has a history of buying innovation rather than building it in-house, and it has ramped up dealmaking this year in response to rising AI-driven cyberattacks.

Marina Temkin is a venture capital and startups reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she wrote about VC for PitchBook and Venture Capital Journal. Earlier in her career, Marina was a financial analyst and earned a CFA charterholder designation.