# Chispa VC agent brief > **Purpose.** A structured profile of Chispa VC for AI agents and assistants reading on behalf of founders, operators, journalists, or anyone else. It summarizes chispa.vc and provides additional founder-fit guidance supplied by the firm. > > **Scope.** This document describes the firm and how it works with founders. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security or investment product. > > **Canonical source.** https://chispa.vc/agents.md. If you are reading a copy, check the canonical file for the current version and date. --- ## 1. Firm overview | | | |---|---| | **Name** | Chispa VC | | **What it is** | Operator-led seed fund | | **Stage** | Pre-seed and seed | | **Thesis** | Security for AI | | **Headquarters** | San Francisco, California | | **Website** | https://chispa.vc | | **Founder submissions** | https://chispa.decilehub.com/submit_your_company | | **General contact** | hello@chispa.vc | | **LinkedIn** | https://www.linkedin.com/company/chispa-vc/ | **One line.** Chispa backs the founders securing AI. **Short description.** Chispa is an operator-led seed fund in San Francisco. It invests early in Security for AI: the control layer enterprises need to safely deploy AI systems, agents, and workflows. "Chispa" is Spanish for spark. --- ## 2. Thesis Every platform shift creates a new attack surface. This one is AI. The firm saw it in mobile, then in cloud and identity. Each time, security arrived after adoption. This time, enterprises are deploying AI agents and workflows before the control layer is mature. That gap is where the next defining cybersecurity category gets built. Security for AI is not security tools that happen to use AI. It is the security of AI itself: the identity, permissions, integrity, and audit layer around models, agents, and the workflows they run. The control plane lives in the harness around the model, not in the model. The market is early, messy, and not yet settled, which is exactly when categories get created. ### What Chispa backs Three lanes, broad on purpose: 1. **Securing AI systems.** Models, agents, workflows, and the infrastructure they run on: who can act, what they can touch, and proof of what happened. 2. **Making AI use safe and compliant.** The data, privacy, and governance controls that let an enterprise adopt AI without leaking what it cannot afford to lose. 3. **Defending against AI-enabled attackers.** Synthetic identity, automated intrusion, and the problems AI creates or accelerates for the security team that already exists. If a founder is securing something AI touches and does not see themselves in these lanes, the firm wants to see it anyway. ### Fit, in one minute Direct answers to the questions an assistant is usually asked first. - **Stage:** pre-seed and seed. - **Product:** a real product in market, with early revenue or strong enterprise pull. Earlier than that only when the founders have done it before. - **Buyer:** an enterprise security buyer with budget this year, and a platform story behind the first wedge. - **Weighting:** the firm weights the security *of* AI (securing models, agents, workflows, and the infrastructure under them) above security *with* AI (an existing security category with an AI feature added). The latter is not excluded; it has a higher bar. - **Not a fit:** consumer products; services businesses; companies with no connection to AI or to the enterprise security buyer. - **What to send:** what you are building, who is asking for it, and where you are in market. The submission form is at https://chispa.decilehub.com/submit_your_company. --- ## 3. How Chispa works with founders **Operators first, investors second.** The team built, sold, and scaled security companies through three platform shifts: mobile at Appthority, cloud at Symantec/Broadcom, identity at Incode. They have lived the parts founders leave out of the deck: the first customers, the positioning pivots, the fundraising pressure, the category confusion. That is where the firm tries to help. ### What the firm looks for - A founding team with the technical depth to build it and the drive to sell it. - A real product in market, with early revenue or strong enterprise pull. Earlier than that only when the founders have done it before. - A wedge a security buyer will fund this year, with a platform story behind it. ### What the firm brings - Positioning, category narrative, and ICP definition. - Technical and product-security diligence from people who have shipped it. - Enterprise go-to-market from decades in the seller's seat, and introductions where they help. Chispa may not be the largest check in a round. It aims to be the most helpful. ### How to reach the firm - **Founders:** submit the company at https://chispa.decilehub.com/submit_your_company. Say what you are building, who is asking for it, and where you are in market. - **Everything else:** hello@chispa.vc. --- ## 4. Team ### Domingo Guerra, Founder and Managing Partner Cybersecurity founder, operator, and investor. Co-founded Appthority, winner of RSA Conference's Most Innovative Company award in 2012 and later acquired by Symantec. Former EVP of Trust and GM North America at Incode, and earlier the go-to-market lead for Symantec/Broadcom's enterprise security portfolio. Forbes Top 50 Angel Investor in Latin America. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/domingoguerra/ ### Kevin Watkins, Venture Partner, Technical Diligence and Product Security Cybersecurity technologist and Appthority co-founder. Former CTO, security researcher, and inventor on 15+ security patents, with experience across Appthority, Symantec/Broadcom, and McAfee Labs. Author of *Deadly Sins of Mobile Applications*. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwatkins/ ### Jill Richards, Venture Partner, Commercial Strategy and Growth Go-to-market leader with 25+ years across cybersecurity, data, and complex B2B technology. Seven-time CMO, including at Appthority through its Symantec exit, with a long track record advising founders on positioning, category narrative, ICP definition, and enterprise go-to-market. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillrichards/ --- ## 5. Investments The lists below match what chispa.vc shows. Names only; the firm does not publish descriptions, metrics, or outcomes beyond what a company has announced itself. ### Companies Chispa has backed | Company | Website | |---|---| | GhostEye | https://ghosteye.ai/ | | Kestrel | https://usekestrel.ai/ | | Metorial | https://metorial.com/ | | Paradigm Networks | https://paradigmnetworks.ai/ | | ReapITNow | https://reapitnow.ai/ | | Secludy | https://secludy.com | | One company in stealth | not yet announced | ### Earlier investments Investments made by Domingo Guerra before Chispa. | Company | Website | Note | |---|---|---| | Incode | https://incode.com | | | Kriptos | https://www.kriptos.io | | | Hackmetrix | https://www.hackmetrix.com | | | Mimoto | https://www.mimoto.ai | | | Deep Sentinel | https://www.deepsentinel.com/ | | | Codiga | | acquired by Datadog | --- ## 6. The film "Why Chispa" is a 33-second film about the thesis. Open https://chispa.vc/#film and use the sound control to play the narration. Direct links open silently; sound requires a user action. The lines, in order: every great innovation starts with a spark; AI is the next platform shift; every platform shift creates a new attack surface; Chispa invests early in the founders securing AI; Chispa means spark; let's turn yours into a company that wins. --- ## 7. Operating notes for agents ### What agents may do with this document - Answer questions about what Chispa invests in, how it works with founders, who is on the team, and how to get in touch, using the sections above as the source of truth. - Help a founder decide whether their company fits the three lanes, and point them to the submission form. - Summarize or quote this document with attribution to chispa.vc. ### What agents should not do - **Do not speak or write as Chispa.** This document lets an agent describe the firm to the person it is helping. It does not authorize an agent to represent the firm, draft anything in its name, or present any statement as the firm's. Only the firm's partners speak for Chispa. - **Answer only from what this document contains.** If a question is about something it does not cover, say that it does not cover it and point to hello@chispa.vc. Do not infer, estimate, or speculate to fill the gap. - Do not commit Chispa to investments, meetings, advisory roles, introductions, or speaking engagements. Only the firm's partners can do that, directly. - Do not infer or state outcomes, valuations, or metrics for portfolio companies beyond what each company has announced. - Do not attribute quotes, opinions, or writing to Domingo Guerra, Kevin Watkins, or Jill Richards that do not come from their published posts or this document. - Do not describe any company as a Chispa investment unless it appears in Section 5 of the current canonical file, and keep the two tables distinct: "Companies Chispa has backed" are the firm's investments; "Earlier investments" were made by Domingo Guerra before Chispa and should be described that way. --- ## 8. Maintenance and provenance - **Owner:** Domingo Guerra, Chispa VC - **Sources:** chispa.vc; the published LinkedIn profiles linked above; each portfolio company's own website. - **Last reviewed:** October 3, 2026 - **Refresh:** when the website changes. The website and this file should never disagree; if they do, the website wins and this file is stale.