Investments | March 2, 2026
Top Down Ventures is excited to announce its pre-seed investment in Longwave, a comprehensive AI security and governance platform that enables Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to protect their clients from AI-related risks while turning security compliance into a profitable managed service.
Founded by seasoned entrepreneurs Pete Skurman (CEO) and Bennett Hensey (CTO), Longwave is addressing one of the most significant opportunities in the MSP ecosystem: enabling service providers to capture the massive AI transformation happening across SMB markets while building new high-margin revenue streams.
Addressing the Growing AI Security Crisis in SMB Markets
As AI tools proliferate across small and medium-sized businesses, a critical security crisis has emerged. Employees are uploading sensitive company data, customer information, and proprietary content to unsecured AI platforms like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, often without IT oversight or proper data protection controls. Shadow AI adoption is creating unprecedented data exposure risks that most SMBs don't even know they have.
Longwave addresses this urgent security challenge by providing MSPs with a comprehensive platform to detect, control, and secure AI usage across client environments, transforming what has been an invisible security threat into a visible, manageable, and profitable service offering.
"MSPs are on the front lines of protecting their clients from AI security risks that many businesses don't even realize exist," said Pete Skurman, CEO of Longwave. "We're building the security platform that gives MSPs complete visibility into how AI is being used across client environments, enabling them to prevent data breaches and turn AI security into a high-value managed service."
Advanced AI Security Platform Built for MSPs
Longwave's security-first platform is purpose-built for MSPs to protect clients from AI-related threats with three core security capabilities:
AI Threat Detection Agent: Lightweight agent that integrates with existing RMM or MDM tools to provide real-time monitoring of AI tool usage, data uploads, and potential security violations across all client workstations.
Automated Security Policy Enforcement: Configurable security policies that automatically prevent unauthorized AI usage, block sensitive data uploads, and ensure compliance with data protection regulations across every device in a client's environment.
Security Intelligence Reporting: Detailed security assessments and breach prevention reports that demonstrate tangible risk reduction, enabling MSPs to position AI security as a critical, billable service offering.
"Shadow AI usage is creating data security risks that most businesses don't even know exist," said Joel Abramson, Managing Partner at Top Down Ventures. "Longwave has built the platform that turns this hidden threat into visible protection and profitable revenue for MSPs. They're addressing a critical security gap that the market desperately needs solved."
Strong Early Traction and Market Validation
Since launching in January 2026, Longwave has built a strong pipeline of MSP partners and is seeing significant interest from the managed services community. The company is scaling their partner network and working to achieve meaningful client penetration throughout 2026.
The investment from Top Down Ventures will accelerate Longwave's go-to-market efforts, expand their New York-based engineering team, and support the development of their managed AI services platform launching in late 2026.
A Strategic Fit for the AI-Enabled MSP Ecosystem
This investment aligns perfectly with Top Down's thesis around AI-native solutions for the MSP ecosystem. Longwave joins a portfolio of innovative companies including zofiQ, Lexful and others that are defining the future of AI-powered MSP operations.
"We see enormous opportunity at the intersection of AI and managed services," added Abramson. "Longwave is uniquely positioned to capture this moment, with a team that deeply understands both the technical complexity of AI implementation and the business realities of the MSP channel."
Bennett Hensey, CTO of Longwave, brings extensive experience from companies like Datadog and Grubhub, while CEO Pete Skurman's background includes operational roles at Uber and Level, providing the team with the technical depth and scaling expertise needed to execute on their ambitious vision.
About Longwave Technologies Inc.
Founded in 2025 and headquartered in New York, Longwave is building the leading AI security and governance platform for Managed Service Providers. The company's mission is to protect businesses from AI-related security threats by giving MSPs the tools to detect, control, and secure AI usage across client environments while creating new security service revenue streams. Learn more at www.longwavehq.com.
About Top Down Ventures
Top Down Ventures is the first early-stage venture capital firm focused on the MSP software ecosystem. The firm partners with founders building automation, intelligence, and governance platforms for the global SMB market. Through its research, events, and investments, Top Down’s mission is to elevate the MSP industry from Main Street to Wall Street. For more information, visit topdown.com
This investment was made through Top Down Founders Fund I.