Investments and insights.
$146M RAISED | 2 DEALS | 2 COUNTRIES
- AI safety and security company Alice (formerly known as "ActiveFence") has raised $140 million in funding led by Apax Digital.
- AI visibility startup Velatir has raised €5 million (US$5.8 million) in seed funding led by Spintop Ventures and Ugly Duckling Ventures.
Israeli AI safety and security company Alice (formerly known as "ActiveFence") has raised $140 million in funding led by Apax Digital, with participation from Samsung, SentinelOne, Maj Invest, MoreTech, and Phoenix Insurance, alongside existing investors Resolute Ventures, Grove Ventures, CRV, Highland Europe, Vintage Investments, Norwest Venture Partners, NFX, and Claltech. The company says it "will use the funding to further advance its AI platform, deepening the technology that tests, defends, and monitors AI models across their lifecycle; expand the team behind Rabbit Hole so the dataset keeps pace with attacks that evolve daily; and scale its go-to-market organization serving foundation model labs and enterprises building with AI."
Danish AI visibility startup Velatir has raised €5 million (US$5.8 million) in seed funding led by Spintop Ventures and Ugly Duckling Ventures, with participation from Norrsken Evolve, EIFO, and angel investors. According to Vestbee, the company will use the funding "to accelerate its European expansion, scale its team, and meet growing customer demand for its AI infrastructure platform."
Mergers and acquisitions.
5 DEALS | 3 COUNTRIES
- German reinsurance company Munich Re Group has agreed to acquire San Francisco-based cyber insurance firm At-Bay for $575 million.
- Brinqa has acquired Boise, Idaho-based pentest reporting and management firm PlexTrac.
- London-based MSSP Redsquid has acquired Lincolnshire-based IT consultancy ARK ICT.
- Utah-based MSSP Nexus IT has acquired Austin-headquartered IT services provider Loyal IT.
- UK telecom company TalkTalk Business is merging with Liverpool-based MSSP ARO.
German reinsurance company Munich Re Group has agreed to acquire San Francisco-based cyber insurance firm At-Bay for $575 million. The company will be overseen by the Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB) unit of Munich Re’s Global Specialty Insurance business. The companies stated, "The acquisition is a strategic move to strengthen Munich Re’s and HSB’s position as a leader in the cyber market by combining insurance with proactive risk mitigation and a state-of-the-art technology platform. It also positions the company for greater access to a cyber market that is rapidly evolving from standalone coverage—which Munich Re already provides—towards integrated, continuously managed risk mitigation platforms."
Austin-based exposure management company Brinqa has acquired Boise, Idaho-based pentest reporting and management firm PlexTrac. Brinqa stated, "The acquisition adds the ability to verify that remediation has actually worked, uniquely positioning Brinqa to identify and prioritize the exposures that matter most, drive remediation, and prove the fix held, closing the CTEM loop. The acquisition also makes Brinqa the largest standalone vendor in Unified Exposure Management, with over 3,000 customers across 57 countries, including more than 25% of the Fortune 500."
London-based MSSP Redsquid has acquired Lincolnshire-based IT consultancy ARK ICT. Redsquid stated, "Approximately 80% of ARK ICT’s customers operate within the education sector, giving Redsquid a significantly stronger presence in the market alongside an established regional SME customer base. The combination will bring customers broader technology expertise, deeper specialist resources and access to an expanded range of services."
Utah-based MSSP Nexus IT has acquired Austin-headquartered IT services provider Loyal IT. Nexus says it "will integrate Loyal IT's team and clients into its national platform, expanding access to hyper-responsive support, advanced cybersecurity, and compliance-driven solutions."
UK telecom company TalkTalk Business is merging with Liverpool-based MSSP ARO. The companies stated, "With approximately 650 employees, annual revenues of around £200 million and a combined customer base of more than 70,000 organisations, the new group will be uniquely positioned to help organisations accelerate their digital ambitions through a single trusted technology partner."
Executive moves.
Tanium has reappointed co-founder Orion Hindawi as CEO. The company's former chief executive, Dan Streetman, is stepping down as CEO and as a member of the Board, but will remain to advise the transition. Co-founder David Hindawi will also return to his role as Chairman of the Board. The company says this transition "positions Tanium to deepen its Autonomous IT capabilities and further expand AI offerings across its portfolio and strengthen customer and partner engagement."
SecureW2 has named Martin Musierowicz as President and Mark Packham as Chief Marketing Officer. Musierowicz previously served as Chief Revenue Officer at SmartBear and Keyfactor, while Packham most recently served as CMO at Dragos.
Trellix has announced the appointments of David Pieterse as Chief Operating Officer - Go-To-Market and David Soto as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Pieterse most recently served as Chief Revenue Officer at Recorded Future, while Soto previously served as Head of Infrastructure Security at Amazon.
The California Department of Technology has appointed Mike Marshall as State CISO. Marshall previously served as Agency Information Officer at California's Environmental Protection Agency.
EMPLOYERS has appointed Deno Morgan as CISO.
Glow has hired Patti Degnan as CISO. Degnan previously served as Operating Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and CISO of Notion.
MANTECH has appointed Steve Kapinos as Chief Cyber Officer.
Forcepoint has hired Vincent Merlin as Chief Marketing Officer. Merlin most recently served as Senior Vice President of Global Growth Marketing at Proofpoint.
ConnectWise has appointed Craig Rones as Chief Marketing Officer. Rones previously served as CMO at LevelBlue and Trustwave.
Quantum Sky has hired Sean Thompson as Chief Growth Officer. Thompson most recently served as Chief Growth Officer at CBRE Government & Defense Services.
Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 has named Stefano Ciminelli as Vice President, Managing Partner EMEA. Ciminelli previously served as Managing Director, Global Cyber Response Lead at Accenture.
Zscaler has named Jake Milstein as Head of Healthcare Solutions Marketing.
Netcraft has added Darren Lee, former Proofpoint executive, to its board of directors.