Originals · Startup · Startups & Fintech
Protectt.ai takes control of Bosch-incubated AIShield to build an AI security stack
The Bessemer-backed mobile app security startup is buying a majority stake in AIShield through new and existing shares. Bosch keeps a minority stake and no deal value was disclosed.
Protectt.ai, a cybersecurity startup best known for protecting banking and fintech mobile apps, has taken a majority stake in AIShield, an AI security platform that was incubated inside Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW). The deal combines a fresh issue of shares with a purchase of shares from existing investors. Bosch keeps a minority holding, and the companies have not disclosed the value of the transaction. Cofounder Manish Mimani told Inc42 the structure mixes cash and ESOPs, with further investment to follow as the business needs it.
AIShield, founded in 2022 by Shiv Kumar and Amit Phadke, builds tools to secure machine learning models, generative AI applications and AI supply chains. Its platform covers security assessment and red teaming before deployment, then runtime protection and safety guardrails in production, including defences against prompt injection. Business Standard reports that it has more than 40 patent filings, 11 of them granted patent families, and customers across Europe and West Asia. It will now run as a separate company, AI Shield Private Limited, and ET reports that the existing intellectual property moves into that entity.
Protectt.ai was founded in 2020 by Mimani and Mohanraj Selvaraj. Its mobile threat defence product also works as a compliance hub that helps app owners meet rules from the RBI, SEBI and NPCI, and Mimani told Inc42 its technology runs on more than 1 Bn devices and handles 15 Bn app sessions a month. The company raised about $16 Mn in a 2025 Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Bajaj Finance, and serves banks, NBFCs, insurers, fintechs and government platforms in India, with a presence in the UAE and the US.
This is Protectt.ai's first acquisition. It set up an M&A team earlier in 2026 and is looking at API and cloud security next. AIShield has about 12 to 15 employees today and plans to grow to 50 to 60 by March 2027, hiring PhD researchers and other technical staff. For regulated lenders that are moving AI from pilots into production, the pitch is one vendor that covers both the mobile app and the AI models behind it, and an India-built option for what the company calls sovereign AI security.
