Investments and insights.
$142M RAISED | 3 DEALS | 2 COUNTRIES
- Censys has raised $70 million in a Series D round led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital.
- Above Security has emerged from stealth with $50 million in funding led by Ballistic Ventures, Merlin Ventures, and Norwest.
- Variance has secured $21.5 million in a Series A round led by Ten Eleven Ventures.
Michigan-based threat intelligence firm Censys has raised $70 million in a Series D round led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, with participation from Decibel Partners, Greylock Partners, GV, Intel Capital, and others. The company's founder and CEO Zakir Durumeric said the investment "will enable faster innovation and global expansion."
Israeli insider risk management company Above Security has emerged from stealth with $50 million in funding led by Ballistic Ventures, Merlin Ventures, and Norwest, with participation from Jump Capital and QPV Ventures.
San Francisco-based AI-powered risk and compliance platform provider Variance has secured $21.5 million in a Series A round led by Ten Eleven Ventures, with participation from 645 Ventures, Y Combinator, Urban Innovation Fund, and Okta Ventures. The company says it "will use this fresh round of capital to deepen their investment in the infrastructure required for investigative AI agents, and expand their work with financial institutions."
Mergers and acquisitions.
7 DEALS | 4 COUNTRIES
- Airbus has agreed to acquire UK-headquartered defense communications security provider Ultra Cyber.
- Rapid7 has acquired San Francisco-based agentic AI security platform provider Kenzo Security.
- DataBricks has announced the acquistion of Antimatter and SiftD.ai.
- Fasoo has agreed to merge its US operations with Connecticut-based AI software company Konsilix, forming a new entity called "Symbologic."
- Soxton AI has acquired agentic AI application security firm Cipher.
- Ekinops has agreed to acquire French zero trust network access (ZTNA) provider Chimere.
- Convergence Networks has acquired Washington-based MSSP Certinet Systems.
European aerospace giant Airbus has agreed to acquire UK-headquartered defense communications security provider Ultra Cyber. Airbus stated, "The acquisition allows Airbus to enhance its end-to-end cyber portfolio, complementing the existing UK sovereign capabilities of its cyber business based in Newport, Wales. With more than 200 employees in Ultra Cyber Ltd, primarily based in its state-of-the-art cyber centre of excellence in Maidenhead, Airbus is reinforcing its commitment to the UK as a core home nation of Airbus and its active role in maintaining the UK's digital security. This acquisition will join the growing Cyber activities within Airbus Defence and Space’s Connected Intelligence business unit and creates a scale UK sovereign cyber champion."
Boston-based attack surface management company Rapid7 has acquired San Francisco-based agentic AI security platform provider Kenzo Security. Rapid7 stated, "The acquisition further enhances the Rapid7 Command Platform, accelerating industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) services from AI-assisted workflows to AI-driven, machine-speed security operations."
San Francisco-headquartered data analytics provider DataBricks has announced the acquistion of Antimatter and SiftD.ai (both based in San Francisco). The company stated, "Antimatter was founded by UC Berkeley security researchers who laid the foundation for provably secure authentication and authorization for AI agents. SiftD.ai, founded by the creator of Splunk’s Search Processing Language (SPL) and lead architects of Splunk's search stack, will bring deep expertise in large-scale detection engineering and modern threat analytics."
South Korean enterprise data security provider Fasoo has agreed to merge its US operations with Connecticut-based AI software company Konsilix, forming a new entity called "Symbologic." The companies stated, "Symbologic combines the complementary strengths of Fasoo and Konsilix to address these challenges for enterprise and middle-market organizations. By bringing together Fasoo's expertise in enterprise data security and lifecycle management with Konsilix's secure, data-in-place conversational AI platform and consulting capabilities, the company enables organizations to both manage security and governance risks and overcome gaps in internal experience and specialized talent."
New York-based AI-powered legal platform Soxton AI has acquired agentic AI application security firm Cipher. Soxton stated, "As a leader in legal tech innovation, Soxton will integrate Cipher’s advanced security layer into its platform, enhancing the safety and reliability of its AI-native legal infrastructure. This acquisition also brings Cipher’s team to Soxton, enabling the company to build multi-agent systems more efficiently and further strengthen its ability to power legal workflows through AI."
Paris-based network connectivity company Ekinops has agreed to acquire French zero trust network access (ZTNA) provider Chimere. Ekinops stated, "With this acquisition, Ekinops rounds out its SASE portfolio and becomes part of the select group of 'Single Vendor SASE' companies globally, standing as the sole European representative in this elite category. Moreover, Ekinops is the world’s only vendor to offer SD-WAN, SSE, and Universal ZTNA, all with the option for on-premise deployment."
Portland, Oregon-based managed service provider Convergence Networks has acquired Washington-based MSSP Certinet Systems. Convergence stated, "The acquisition strengthens Convergence Networks' presence across the Pacific Northwest and expands its ability to support organizations operating in highly regulated industries such as manufacturing, local government, and the Defense Industrial Base."
Executive moves.
Knox Systems has hired Hemant Baidwan as Executive Chief Information Security Officer. Baidwan most recently served as CISO for the US Department of Homeland Security.
Moderna has appointed Farzan Karimi as Deputy CISO. Karimi previously served as the company's Senior Director of Security Response & Offensive Security.
SentinelOne has named Brian Goldfarb as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Goldfarb most recently served as CMO at SolarWinds.
Skillsoft has added Art Gilliland to its board of directors. Gilliland currently serves as CEO of Delinea, and previously led the Symantec Enterprise Division at Broadcom.
BlackCloak has added Michael Bruemmer to its advisory board. Bruemmer currently serves as Vice President of Global Data Breach and Consumer Protection at Experian.
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) has added FourOne Insights founder and CEO Will Markow as a Fellow.