JERUSALEM, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Orchid Security, which focuses on protecting customers' identity as AI continues to grow, said on Tuesday it raised $36 million in an early stage funding round and emerged from so-called "stealth mode" after a year of working in secrecy.

The seed round was led by Intel Capital and Team8, with participation from CapitalOne and other businessmen, with the funding aimed at accelerating Orchid's growth using large language models to address the challenge of managing identity systems.

Orchid, based in New York with its R&D in Israel, said it was already working with a number of large firms globally in finance, manufacturing, healthcare and retail. It said customers include Fortune 100 companies such as Costco and Repsol.

Identity verification is the process an organization engages in to confirm that an individual who seeks to do business with the organization is truly who he or she claims to be.

Israel has become a world leader in cyber security, and although cyber accounts for 7% of Israeli tech firms, such startups raised nearly $4 billion in 2024, 36% of total funds raised by startups.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer, Editing by William Maclean)

((steven.scheer@thomsonreuters.com; +972 2 632 2210; Reuters Messaging: Twitter: @StevenMScheer))