Palo Alto Networks Acquires AI Help Desk Startup Console for $500M

Palo Alto Networks has agreed to acquire Console, a two-year-old startup that leverages AI agents to automate routine IT help desk tasks, for $500 million in a mix of cash and stock, according to two sources familiar with the transaction. The cybersecurity company officially announced the acquisition on Tuesday but did not disclose the financial terms. Founded in 2024, Console had raised a total of $29 million across two funding rounds prior to the deal: a $6.2 million seed round led by Thrive Capital, and a $23 million Series A co-led by DST Global and Thrive. At the time of the sale, Console was valued at $157 million, according to PitchBook—delivering a rapid, multi-fold return for early investors including SV Angel, Abstract Ventures, and notably Palo Alto Networks' CEO Nikesh Arora, who participated as an angel investor. Palo Alto Networks declined to comment on the specifics of the deal. The company plans to integrate Console into its Cortex platform, which uses AI to automatically detect and neutralize security threats. Console’s agentic technology will allow security teams to investigate and resolve alerts via natural language commands, giving Cortex—in Arora’s words—“the arms and legs to deliver autonomous security outcomes across the entire enterprise.” Console was founded by Andrei Serban, who launched the startup shortly after his previous company, code-security platform Fuzzbuzz, was acquired by Rippling. Console’s customer base included Ramp, Flock Safety, and Scale AI, and its AI agents handled tasks such as password resets, granting access to applications like Figma and Miro, and performing routine troubleshooting without direct human involvement. As a standalone startup, Console primarily competed with Serval, another challenger to ServiceNow. Serval reached a $1 billion valuation after raising a $75 million Series B round led by Sequoia in December 2025. While Serval began as an AI tech support tool, it quickly expanded to offer AI assistance for HR, legal, and finance departments. With Console now acquired, Serval stands as the leading independent startup in the AI-driven IT service management space, according to one investor who is not a backer of Serval and spoke to TechCrunch. The Console acquisition is Palo Alto Networks’ seventh in 2026, according to PitchBook. Other venture-backed companies purchased by the cybersecurity giant this year include observability platform Chronosphere—backed by Greylock and Lux Capital—at a valuation of $3.35 billion, and Koi, a cyber startup backed by Battery and Team8, for $400 million.

via TechCrunch Startups