Manoj Apte
About Manoj Apte
Manoj Apte was part of the founding team of Zscaler. He was responsible for defining its products and strategy, and he left the company as Chief Strategy Officer. Over 13 or more years there he also covered analyst relations, sales enablement, product marketing, sales engineering, architecture and compliance. In the early years he also ran engineering, operations and marketing.
Before Zscaler he was a product manager at Juniper Networks, where he launched the 10Gbps intrusion prevention (IPS) appliance. He also led engineering teams working on platform drivers, monitoring, lawful interception and firewalls. Earlier, he worked on real-time embedded platforms.
He has a Ph.D. in Computational Engineering (Machine Learning) from Mississippi State University and a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Technology from IIT Bombay. He has contributed to the Cloud Security Alliance since its initial charter. Crunchbase and AskForFunding place him in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Public databases list between 3 and 7 investments, depending on the source. These include Airgap (Series A, April 2022), Veza (Series C, April 2022), Aurascape (Series A, April 2025) and Airrived (Seed, February 2026). Airgap was acquired in April 2024. CB Insights records Veza as acquired in December 2025.
AskForFunding also lists Noma Security, SURF Security and oak9 among his investments. It gives no dates for these. Apte has taken part in investor panels, including the Innovators & Investors Summit at Black Hat USA 2024.
Apte invested in Airrived's $6.1M Seed round, announced in February 2026. Cannage Capital led the round. Plug and Play Ventures, Rebellion Ventures and Inner Loop Capital also took part. Apte joined Mahendra Ramsinghani and Saqib E. Awan as strategic angel investors. Airrived builds an Agentic OS to bring agentic AI to enterprise cybersecurity, IT and business operations.
Aurascape describes itself as a born-in-AI security company focused on enterprise AI security. It lists Apte among its investors, and Tracxn records its $50M Series A in April 2025.
His public investments cluster in cybersecurity, enterprise infrastructure and enterprise applications. Tracxn lists United States companies only. His portfolio runs from Seed (Airrived) to Series A (Airgap, Aurascape) and Series C (Veza). He often invests alongside institutional leads. Apte has not publicly stated a check size or a formal investment thesis.
- Airrived: Agentic OS for enterprise security, IT and business operations; $6.1M Seed, February 2026.
- Aurascape: AI security company; Series A, April 2025.
- Veza: data and identity security platform; Series C, April 2022. CB Insights records it as acquired in December 2025.
- Airgap: ransomware prevention and threat isolation; Series A, April 2022. Acquired in April 2024.
- Noma Security, SURF Security, oak9: listed by AskForFunding; investment dates not public.
- fenwick.com/insights/experience/fenwick-represents-airrived-in-6-1m-se
- siliconangle.com/2026/02/03/airrived-says-agentic-ais-breakthrough-mom
- blackhat.com/us-24/innovators-summit.html
- crunchbase.com/person/manoj-apte
- tracxn.com/d/people/manoj-apte/__kWetdV7m5Yv_c5S216-WMuFitc-Opo88YSu0Y
- cbinsights.com/investor/manoj-apte
- askforfunding.com/investor/manoj-apte-angel-investor
- aurascape.ai/company
Investing activity
Manoj Apte appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M. The most recent is Airrived (Seed, $6.1M, Feb 2026).
Manoj Apte most often invests alongside Cannage Capital, Saqib Awan, Plug and Play and Mahendra Ramsinghani, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Manoj Apte
Who is Manoj Apte?
Manoj Apte is an angel investor and a former Chief Strategy Officer at Zscaler, where he was part of the founding team. He previously worked as a product manager at Juniper Networks.
Has Manoj Apte invested in AI startups?
Yes. He was a strategic angel in Airrived's $6.1M Seed round in February 2026. Aurascape, an AI security company, also lists him among its investors.
What sectors does Manoj Apte invest in?
His known investments are in cybersecurity, enterprise infrastructure and enterprise applications. Tracxn lists United States companies only.
What is Manoj Apte's check size?
He has not made a check size public. Founders should not assume a range from database listings.
What stage does Manoj Apte invest at?
Public records show Seed, Series A and Series C participation. His Airrived investment came in a Seed round led by Cannage Capital.
How can founders contact Manoj Apte?
He has a LinkedIn profile, linked below. No personal website or X account was found. A warm introduction from a shared security or enterprise contact is the likeliest route.
Is Manoj Apte an angel investor?
Yes. Manoj Apte invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Manoj Apte invested in?
Manoj Apte's AI investments include Airrived. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Who does Manoj Apte co-invest with?
Manoj Apte's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Cannage Capital (1 deal), Saqib Awan (1 deal), Plug and Play (1 deal), Mahendra Ramsinghani (1 deal) and Rebellion Ventures (1 deal).
How can founders reach Manoj Apte?
Founders on Lounge can see Manoj Apte's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Manoj Apte to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.