# Kunal Agarwal

> Kunal Agarwal is the founder and CEO of dope.security, the 'Fly Direct' Secure Web Gateway that runs security on the endpoint instead of routing all traffic through a distant cloud data center. A self-described hacker since age 8 who once talked his way out of juvenile detention after breaking into his high school's grading system, he spent roughly a decade at Symantec and Forcepoint - rising from engineer to running Symantec's IoT business and leading product at Forcepoint - before launching dope.security in 2022. The company raised a $16M Series A led by GV (Google Ventures), and Agarwal was named SC Awards 2025 Innovator of the Year.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at dope.security
- **Organizations:** dope.security, Symantec, Forcepoint
- **From:** California, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences), University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Founded dope.security and pioneered the 'Fly Direct' on-device Secure Web Gateway architecture, Raised a $16M Series A led by GV (Google Ventures); roughly $20-24M total funding, Named SC Awards 2025 Innovator (Executive or Practitioner) of the Year

## Career timeline

- **~1999** — Begins hacking around age 8 - emulators, ROMs, Xbox mods, writing malware
- **~2006** — At age 15, hacks his high school's grading system out of curiosity; avoids juvenile detention by persuading the San Jose DA to grant probation
- **2013** — Joins Symantec as a software engineer after UC Berkeley; rises to product manager and GM of the Internet of Things business
- **2020** — Moves to Forcepoint as Senior Director of Product Management (insider threat, DLP/CASB, endpoint)
- **2021** — Founds dope.security
- **2022** — dope.security officially launches its Fly Direct Secure Web Gateway (September 2022)
- **2023** — Raises $16M Series A led by GV (Google Ventures), with Boldstart Ventures and Preface participating
- **2025** — Named SC Awards Innovator (Executive or Practitioner) of the Year

## Achievements

- Founded dope.security and pioneered the 'Fly Direct' on-device Secure Web Gateway architecture
- Raised a $16M Series A led by GV (Google Ventures); roughly $20-24M total funding
- Named SC Awards 2025 Innovator (Executive or Practitioner) of the Year
- Led Symantec's Internet of Things business unit
- Led product for insider threat, DLP/CASB and endpoint at Forcepoint

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Named SC Awards 2025 Innovator (Executive or Practitioner) of the Year
- **2023-03** — Closed $16M Series A led by GV (Google Ventures)

## Links

- Website: https://dope.security
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunala/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kunal-agarwal
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11