Lior Kanfi

Novee Security raises $51.5M in Seed and Series A. Led by YL Ventures, with participation from Canaan Partners and investor oren zeev through Zeev Ventures., marking one of the largest early-stage rounds in Israeli cybersecurity. Novee is building an AI-powered penetration testing platform that continuously simulates real attackers, helping security teams identify and prioritize real exploit paths in fast-changing environments. Founded by Ido Geffen, Gon Chalamish, and Omer Ninburg, the team combines deep offensive security, R&D leadership, and large-scale cybersecurity experience to rethink how organizations test and defend their systems. Follow Who Got Funded Israel for more startup funding updates.

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“𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟱% 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵.” These words come directly from Ofer LaOr, VP Engineering, and Avishay Cohen , Co-founder & CEO at Anima. Anima is a fast-growing tech company serving over 1.5M users. They faced a challenge: rapidly rising cloud costs and the need to scale quickly, all while keeping their team focused on building and innovating. That’s where CloudZone’s Max Squad stepped in. A dedicated team of a Customer Success Manager, Solutions Architect, and FinOps Expert, working side-by-side with Anima to cut waste, streamline operations, and always stay three steps ahead. In just one month, Anima reduced cloud spend by 25%, scaled seamlessly to handle 20× growth in LLM demand, and freed up its engineers to focus on its product and users. 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.

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The funding will be used to expand the data cost optimization startup's Israeli R&D center, deepen product capabilities, support additional data platforms, and accelerate growth in the US by expanding the sales organization *** Yuki, a data cost optimization startup, has emerged from stealth with a $6 million seed round led by Hyperwise Ventures, with participation from VelocitX, Tal Ventures, Fresh.fund, and Yakir Daniel, founder of Spot.io (Flexera). Full details: https://lnkd.in/di3GnsHR Ido Arieli Noga Hadar Shpivak Dana Bilder-Morozova Perry T. Yana Peres Nathan Shuchami Alex Mirkin Amit Yahalom Amir Peres

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Big news from the Arieli portfolio! Elron Ventures, part of the Arieli Group family, has announced the acquisition of its portfolio company Cynerio by Axonius, one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies and an Israeli-born unicorn. This milestone is more than just a successful exit. It’s the story of two Israeli innovators joining forces to protect the most critical environments in healthcare. Cynerio’s mission has always been clear: securing hospitals and clinical systems worldwide. As part of Axonius, that mission now scales as Cynerio continues as Axonius's dedicated healthcare division, expanding what’s possible across the connected hospital ecosystem. Through Elron, Arieli Group is proud to now be part of this next chapter, backing visionary founders as they transform their sectors and continue their impact on a global stage. Congratulations to Leon Lerman, Daniel Brodie, and the Cynerio team on their exceptional work, and to the leadership at Axonius as they lead this exciting next phase. Israeli innovation. Global impact. Exactly why we do what we do. #Cybersecurity #HealthcareInnovation #IsraeliTech Read more about the acquisition here: https://lnkd.in/dt8myEdN Lisya Bahar Manoah 🎗️Yaron Kulas Yaniv Shnieder RDC Rafael Development Corporation Ltd. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems ALIVE Israel HealthTech Fund MTIP Accelmed

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Torq, the Israeli-American AI security operations startup founded in 2020 by Ofer Smadari, Leonid Belkind, and Eldad Livni, raised $140 million in a Series D round led by Merlin Ventures, pushing its valuation to $1.2 billion and total funding to $332 million. The company plans to use the capital to expand adoption of its self-service AI SOC Platform across Fortune 500 enterprises and into U.S. federal and public sector markets, building on strong growth driven by widespread deployment of its AI Agents for investigation and response in security operations centers. FOUNDERS: Ofer Smadari, Leonid Belkind & Eldad Livni INVESTORS: Merlin Ventures, Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Ventures Partners &Greenfield Partners ROUND: Series D AMOUNT: $140,000,000 VALUATION: $1,200,000,000 HQ: #TelAviv #Israel #VentureCapital #Torq #OferSmadari #LeonidBelkind #EldadLivni #MerlinVentures #EvolutionEquityPartners #NotableCapital #BessemerVenturePartners #InsightVenturesPartners #GreenfieldPartners #TradedVC

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𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬: 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 Torq raised $140M in a Series D at $1.2B valuation, led by Merlin Ventures, with Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners, and others. Founded in 2020 by Ofer Smadari, Leonid Belkind, and others, Torq develops an agentic AI-driven security operations platform. Deepgram raised $130M in a Series C at $1.3B valuation, led by AVP, with Alkeon Capital, Tiger Global, Princeville Capital, and others. Led by CEO Scott Stephenson, Deepgram delivers real-time voice AI and speech-to-text platforms. Skild AI completed a $1.4B Series C at $14B valuation, led by SoftBank Group, with NVIDIA, Macquarie Group, 1789 Capital, and others. Led by CEO Deepak Pathak, Skild AI builds a general-purpose robotics "brain." Temporal Technologies is in talks to raise a round at $5B valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz. Founded in 2019 by Samar Abbas and Maxim Fateev, Temporal builds an open-source workflow orchestration platform. Aikido Security raised $60M in a Series B at $1B valuation, led by DST Global, with PSG, Notion Capital, and others. Founded by Willem Delbare, Roeland Delrue, and others, Aikido builds developer-first cybersecurity tools. Cerebras plans to deliver up to 750 megawatts of computing power to OpenAI through 2028 in a deal valued at over $10B. Founded in 2016 by Andrew Feldman, Jean-Philippe Fricker, Michael James, Sean Lie, and others, Cerebras builds wafer‑scale AI processors. Higgsfield AI raised $80M in a Series A extension at over $1.3B valuation, with Accel, GFT Ventures, and Menlo Ventures. Led by CEO Alex Mashrabov, Higgsfield offers an AI-powered generative video platform. Parloa raised $350M in a Series D, tripling valuation to $3B, led by General Catalyst, with EQT Ventures, Durable Capital Partners, and others. Founded by Malte Kosub and Stefan Ostwald, Parloa builds AI-driven customer service agents.

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IVC Data and Insights New AI-based Company Search (Beta) We are proud to introduce a new way to explore the Israeli tech ecosystem, featuring an AI-based search. You can type what you are looking for in your own words. The engine will help you find companies that match your needs. IVC Data and Insights has provided access to a limited group of users during this Beta release. If you are not currently on the list, you can sign up for the waiting list, and we will notify you as soon as it becomes available to more users. Link to the AI Search Engine: https://lnkd.in/dNtV5MhJ #IVCAISearch #Beta #IsraeliTech #CompanySearch #IVC

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Another milestone for Israeli tech — and for us. Calcalist just published a list of the top Israeli startups that have crossed the $250M ARR threshold. 7 of them are Switchup clients 😇 Proud to partner with the teams behind: Wiz, Gong, Hibob, Claroty, Armis, Minute Media, Forter. When the biggest names in tech choose Switchup- we know we’re doing something right. Link to article- https://lnkd.in/ewv6Aq6B

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In today's BlackHat edition of CyberBytes we sat down with Kfir Gollan – CTO & Co-Founder of CeTu – to hear how he went from: 💻 Writing code at Wix as a teenager... 🎖️ Serving in the IDF’s cyber defense unit... ➡️ To now co-founding CeTu, a company rethinking how security teams make sense of the overwhelming flood of data in the GenAI era. In this episode, Kofir shares: ✨ Why face-to-face conversations still beat Zoom for building trust. ✨ How CeTu is tackling the scale and complexity of modern security data. ✨ What it’s like to launch a startup as a first-time founder With customers already onboard and demand outpacing supply, CeTu is one to watch. Listen now: 🎥 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/e6_d29vV 🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eNRaEriD #CyberBytesPodcast #BlackHat2025 #Cybersecurity #GenAI #DataOrchestration #Startups Ben GascoigneCeTuKfir GollanNina KorfiasMarketbridge

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Bill Gates wrote in ״The Road Ahead"(1995): “We overestimate what will happen in two years and underestimate what will happen in ten.” But in times of rapid change - like now with AI - could the opposite be true? Maybe we’re underestimating the next two years and overestimating how long deep change will really take. What felt like science fiction just months ago is now part of our daily tools. This reality is kicking my learning muscles into gear. It’s a call to stay curious, adapt fast, and expect the unexpected.

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Founded in 2021 by two Israeli cyber prodigies, Cyera is now raising hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation of over $6 billion. 🎉 That round was led by Accel and Sapphire Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Sequoia, Coatue, Redpoint, and Georgian. Want to learn more about Cyera’s journey? Explore their profile on Startup Nation Central 👉 https://okt.to/bWUn2C #eToro #IsraeliTech #Fintech #StartupNation #IPONews #TechInnovation

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Most startup conversations begin with technology. But the companies that scale are often shaped much earlier - By people. We’re glad to share another episode of the Scale Up Nation Podcast, recorded live during Qumra’s annual CEO Summit, our yearly gathering where CEOs of leading Israeli companies across different stages of scale come together to speak openly about the challenges, opportunities and wins of building at scale. In this episode, guest host Boaz Dinte, Managing Partner at Qumra Capital, joins Ram Ben Ishay for a conversation with Pavel Gurvich - co-founder of Guardicore, a leading data center and cloud security company built around micro-segmentation, a Qumra Capital portfolio company acquired by Akamai Technologies, and founder of Tenzai, an AI-native #cybersecurity company building autonomous #AI hackers to help enterprises continuously find and fix vulnerabilities. One insight stood out in the conversation: Experienced #founders rarely start from scratch when building their next company. Over time, they develop a kind of “rolodex” of people they’ve worked with closely - people they trust, understand, and know how they execute. When the time comes to build again, those relationships often become the foundation of the new company. Because the early team doesn’t just build the product - They define the company’s DNA. Full episode in the comments 👇

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