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doxx.net raises $38M to build private networks for AI agents

doxx.net raises $38M to build private networks for AI agents

New Capabilities

Andreessen Horowitz leads Series A as Agentic Defined Networking platform enters open beta

Today: Funding round reported

Overview

Updated 57 minutes ago

AI agents are starting to browse the web, send messages, and take actions for their users. That creates a new problem: an agent can hit a fake login page or malware site while holding its user's data and accounts. doxx.net is building a parallel private network to keep agents off those destinations.

The Miami startup, founded by DDoS-defense pioneer Barrett Lyon, raised $38 million led by Andreessen Horowitz. It also launched its Agentic Defined Networking platform in open beta. The platform gives agents their own network identity and DNS-level threat protection that has blocked 38 million threats since December.

Why it matters

If AI agents act on our behalf online, they need a network that keeps them off malicious sites — doxx.net is betting that network must be private and agent-controlled.

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Key Indicators

$38M
Series A funding
Led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Animo Ventures and Focal.vc.
38 million
Threats blocked since December 2025
DNS-level threat protection blocked malicious destinations during closed beta.
31
Network locations worldwide
doxx.net runs its own global backbone with dedicated hardware across six continents.
196
Custom top-level domains
The parallel internet ecosystem has its own naming system and certificate authority.

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People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

January 2025 October 2026

4 events Latest: Today
Tap a bar to jump to that date
  1. Funding round reported

    Today Announcement

    SecurityWeek and other outlets report the $38M Series A and open beta launch details.

  2. Series A and open beta announced

    Funding

    doxx.net announces $38M Series A led by a16z and launches Agentic Defined Networking in open beta.

  3. Closed beta begins

    Launch

    doxx.net starts closed beta; DNS threat protection begins blocking malicious destinations.

  4. doxx.net founded

    Founding

    Barrett Lyon founds doxx.net in Miami to build private networking for AI agents.

Scenarios

1

doxx.net becomes the default network layer for AI agents

Likely Resolves by Oct 1, 2027

Discussed by: Andreessen Horowitz, industry analysts

If the open beta converts to strong adoption, doxx.net could become the standard way agents connect. The platform's agent API and native MCP support let agents configure their own networks, which could make it the default for agent-to-agent communication. Planned enterprise offerings and open-source releases would accelerate this path.

2

doxx.net stays niche as enterprises build their own agent networks

Possible Resolves by Oct 1, 2027

Discussed by: Network World, industry observers

Large enterprises may prefer to build agent networking on their own infrastructure rather than adopt a third-party parallel network. If adoption plateaus among individual users and small teams, doxx.net could remain a niche privacy tool rather than a platform standard.

3

doxx.net's covert networking draws regulatory scrutiny

Possible Resolves by Oct 1, 2027

Discussed by: SecurityWeek, privacy advocates

The platform's covert networking features, which make private traffic look like ordinary web browsing, and its onion routing could attract attention from regulators or law enforcement. If authorities question the anonymity features, doxx.net could face compliance pressure in some jurisdictions.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

September 2002

Tor (2002)

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory released Tor, an onion-routing network that hides a user's identity by bouncing traffic through multiple relays. It became the standard tool for anonymous browsing, used by journalists, activists, and criminals alike.

Then

Tor grew into a global anonymity network with millions of daily users.

Now

It proved onion routing works at scale, but also showed anonymity tools attract both praise and scrutiny from governments.

Why this matters now

doxx.net uses onion routing for the same privacy reasons and faces the same dual-use questions about who benefits from anonymity.

1991-2000

AOL's walled garden (1990s)

AOL gave millions of users a private network with its own content, chat rooms, and naming system, separate from the open internet. It made the online world safe and simple for newcomers who found the public web confusing.

Then

AOL became the dominant on-ramp to the internet for American households.

Now

The walled garden faded as the open web won, but it showed that controlled private networks can serve mainstream users.

Why this matters now

doxx.net's parallel internet with its own TLDs and certificate authority is a modern version of that idea, built for privacy and agent control rather than content curation.

2010-2020

The VPN industry's mainstreaming (2010s)

VPNs went from a niche tool for privacy enthusiasts to a mainstream product used by hundreds of millions, driven by concerns about surveillance and data collection. The industry grew despite mixed quality and trust issues.

Then

VPN adoption surged as consumers sought privacy from ISPs and advertisers.

Now

Trust problems persisted because most VPNs ran on rented servers in unknown jurisdictions.

Why this matters now

doxx.net is trying to solve that trust problem by owning its infrastructure end to end, rather than relying on third-party servers.

Sources

(7)