Blackstone Leads $400 Million Investment in Cyber Startup Cyera
Investment values company at $9 billion as investor interest in cybersecurity startups grows
Blackstone is leading a $400 million investment in data-security firm Cyera that values the New York-based company at $9 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Cyera is among a crop of cybersecurity startups leveraging artificial intelligence to protect companies from new security vulnerabilities introduced by AI. The startup, founded in 2021 by former Israeli Defence Forces military intelligence officers Yotam Segev and Tamar Bar-Ilan, raised funding at a $6 billion valuation in June.
The company initially focused on minimizing data risks in the cloud. It previously raised funding from Sequoia Capital, Accel, Greenoaks Capital Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Coatue Management, among others. The company has raised more than $1 billion to date, according to data provider PitchBook. Existing investors plan to participate in the new financing.
The rise of AI—and the novel security risks it poses—have been a significant tailwind for Cyera. In June, the company said AI helped it quadruple growth among Fortune 500 customers. “Cyera’s focus on data security is the most critical capability the enterprise needs to adopt AI responsibly,” Segev, the company’s chief executive, said in a June statement.
Investor interest in the fast-growing startup reflects broader confidence in the strength of the AI security business after Google agreed to acquire cybersecurity company Wiz for $32 billion in March. The deal, Google’s largest acquisition to date, followed an earlier attempt by Alphabet to acquire the company for $23 billion.
Blackstone’s other investments in companies servicing the AI boom include data center operator QTS, CoreWeave, a provider of AI cloud services, and DDN, which helps companies store and analyze data.