Welcome to The Trident Radar!
Google finally closed the Wiz deal, yawn. On a serious note, the deal is a landmark moment for cybersecurity. At $32 billion, it's the largest pure-play cyber acquisition ever, dwarfing the previous record (Palo Alto/CyberArk at $26.2B just weeks earlier).
But Wiz wasn't the only headline. The AI security category continued its tear with Armadin raising $190M, Kai Cyber grabbing $125M, and Onyx emerging with a $40M seed for AI agent governance. Israeli founders are having their 100th moment of the past year, hot stuff.
Next week: RSA Conference. We'll see you there.
Lets dive in.
This weeks Trident Talks!
In the next episode of The Failure Files, Chloe Taylor sits down with Amanda Aguayo and Hayden Smith, husband-and-wife co-founders of Hunted Labs, to talk candidly about the challenges of building a company - and a life - together.
This series dives into the setbacks, lessons learned, and the perceived failures that actually paved the way for success.
Wiz acquired by Google for $32 billion. The largest cybersecurity acquisition in history closes. Cloud security is now officially a hyperscaler priority.
Armadin raises $190M Series A. AI-powered red teaming with Accel, Ballistic, Kleiner, and In-Q-Tel on the cap table. Menlo Park.
Kai Cyber grabs $125M Series A. Agentic AI for enterprise security analysis and threat investigation. Evolution Equity leads.
Axiamatic raises $54M. Agentic control plane for enterprise transformation. Bessemer and Greylock lead.
Jazz raises $43M Series A. AI-driven DLP protecting sensitive information across endpoints and cloud. Team8 and Ten Eleven on cap table.
Onyx emerges with $40M seed. AI agent security platform from CyberStarts and Conviction Partners. Another entrant in the AI governance race.
Bold Security raises $28M Series A. AI-powered endpoint protection with Bessemer backing. Tel Aviv.
AUGUR raises $15M seed. Predictive threat prevention, identifying malicious infrastructure before attacks happen.
Leonardo acquires Becrypt. UK government-approved security platform joins the defence giant.
Anduril acquires ExoAnalytic Solutions. Space monitoring network for defence and strategic decision-making.
Insider Insight: Buyers, your RSA Meeting Strategy is Wrong
Company Spotlight: Onyx
Countdown to RSAC 2026
6 days until RSA Conference!
This is it. Final countdown. Here's where to find Trident Search next week:
The Harlequin (Monday March 23 and Wednesday March 25) 9am-4pm both days. Ocean Security, Tidal Cyber, and Reveal are sponsoring. We're hosting meetings all day in a relaxed setting away from the Moscone floor.
Cyber Startup Expo (Monday March 23, 8am-7pm) Convene, 100 Stockton. We're sponsoring alongside Dreamit Ventures, Blu Ventures, DataTribe, and Carnegie Mellon CyLab. Charlee is moderating a panel on leveraging the channel at 10am.
Cyber VIP Reception (Monday March 23, 5-8pm) 680 Folsom Street. Co-hosted by Merlin Ventures, Evolution, and Lightspeed. Trident is one of the sponsors alongside AWS and Davis Polk.
CISO Karaoke Our digital ad van will be circulating San Francisco on Monday. Spot it, grab a photo, tag us.
What to Bring: The RSA Essentials Checklist
The Non-Negotiables
Comfortable shoes (you will walk 10+ miles per day, nobody cares about your dress shoes by Tuesday)
Portable phone charger (your battery will die by 2pm, guaranteed)
Business cards (yes, still)
Light jacket (Moscone AC is aggressive, San Francisco evenings are cold)
The Smart Additions
Reusable water bottle (stay hydrated, the expo floor is a desert)
Small notebook or notes app ready (you will forget everything otherwise)
Breath mints (coffee breath is real, you have 47 conversations ahead)
Pain relief (headaches happen, be prepared)
The Pro Moves
Pre-downloaded offline maps (wifi will be terrible)
Screenshots of your calendar (see above re: wifi)
A power strip for your hotel room (you have 6 devices, the room has 2 outlets)
An empty tote bag (you will acquire swag whether you want to or not)
Leave at Home
The laptop you "might need" (you won't open it)
Formal shoes for "evening events" (casual is fine everywhere)
Expectations of inbox zero (it's not happening)
See you there.
FUNDING SPOTLIGHT
$100M+
Armadin
Series A, $189.9M (Accel, Ballistic Ventures, GV, In-Q-Tel, Kleiner Perkins, Menlo Ventures)
AI-powered red teaming platform detecting and verifying vulnerabilities automatically. Examines security weaknesses from the attacker's perspective with real-time exploitability insights. Kevin Mandia (Ballistic) on the cap table.
Category: AI Red Teaming / Offensive Security
HQ: Menlo Park, CA
Kai Cyber
Series A, $125M (Evolution Equity Partners, N47)
Agentic AI cybersecurity platform automating enterprise security analysis and threat investigation. Automated vulnerability analysis, threat intelligence processing, asset discovery, compliance monitoring, and remediation guidance.
Category: Agentic AI Security / Threat Investigation
HQ: San Jose, CA
$20M-$100M
Axiamatic
Later Stage VC, $54M (Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock)
Agentic control plane for enterprise transformation. Monitors complex programs, surfaces risks early, delivers context and recommendations. ERP, CRM, and supply chain transformation focus.
Category: Enterprise Transformation / AI Control Plane
HQ: Saratoga, CA
Jazz
Series A, $43M (Glilot Capital, MassMutual Ventures, Merlin Ventures, Team8, Ten Eleven Ventures)
AI-driven data loss prevention protecting sensitive information across endpoints and cloud applications. Context-aware detection using behaviour analysis rather than pattern matching.
Category: AI DLP / Data Protection
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Onyx
Seed, $40M (Conviction Partners, CyberStarts, Flex Capital, Sunflower Capital)
Enterprise AI security platform providing visibility, governance, and protection for AI agent deployments. Agent discovery, policy enforcement, risk identification, real-time monitoring. Sarah Guo and Gili Raanan leading.
Category: AI Agent Security / Governance
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Bold Security
Series A, $28M (Bessemer Venture Partners, Cerca Partners, Picture Capital, Red Dot Capital)
AI-powered intelligent endpoint security. Machine learning and contextual analysis to understand user intent and identify malicious behaviour. Automatic threat response with minimal manual configuration. Assaf Rappaport and Roy Reznik as angels.
Category: AI Endpoint Security
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Escape Technologies
Later Stage VC, $18M (Balderton Capital, IRIS, Uncorrelated Ventures, Y Combinator)
Automated GraphQL and API security testing during development. Simulates attacks, visualises networks in real-time, explores attack scenarios.
Category: API Security / DevSecOps
HQ: Biarritz, France
$5M-$20M
AUGUR
Seed, $15M (First Kind, Flix, Plural, SNR, Tiny VC)
AI-based predictive threat prevention. Analyses attacker behaviour, identifies malicious infrastructure months in advance, integrates with existing security tools, automates defensive actions.
Category: Predictive Threat Intelligence
HQ: London, UK
SCATR
Series A, $7.81M (First In)
Zero-trust security platform securing communications between endpoints across trusted, untrusted, and compromised networks. Adversarial mitigation and footprint obfuscation.
Category: Zero Trust / Network Security
HQ: Cleveland, OH
Realm Labs
Series A, $5M (Crosspoint Capital Partners)
AI-based authorisation platform preventing data leaks. Agent security, guardrails, and access controls working across any modality or language. RSA Innovation Sandbox finalist.
Category: AI Guardrails / Data Protection
HQ: Sunnyvale, CA
R2 Wireless
Later Stage VC, $5M
Wireless sensing technology securing critical infrastructure against RF spectrum threats. AI-powered passive sensing for detection, classification, geolocation, and mitigation.
Category: RF Security / Critical Infrastructure
HQ: Petah Tikva, Israel
M&A INTELLIGENCE
Wiz → Acquired by Alphabet (NAS: GOOGL)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: March 11, 2026
Deal Size: $32B
The largest cybersecurity acquisition in history. Google acquires the cloud security platform to improve cloud security and enable organisations to build fast and securely across any cloud or AI platform. Wiz had 1,800 employees and was generating significant revenue.
Becrypt → Acquired by Leonardo (MIL: LDO)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: March 11, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
UK government-approved cybersecurity technology provider joins the Italian defence giant. Mobile endpoint and cloud security with government-grade platforms.
ExoAnalytic Solutions → Acquired by Anduril Industries
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: March 11, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
Space monitoring network delivering real-time insights for defence. Orbital activity tracking, simulation-based force design, and mission system optimisation. Anduril continues building its defence tech stack.
CyberFish → Acquired by Trust Stamp (NAS: IDAI)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: March 9, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
Incident exercising and learning platform for cyber resilience. Improves effectiveness of crisis management teams.
Promptfoo → Acquired by OpenAI
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: March 9, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
Open-source LLM testing platform for discovering and eliminating AI risks. Custom probes, attack generation, and jailbreak detection. OpenAI brings AI security testing in-house.
INSIDER INSIGHT
Buyers, your RSA Meeting Strategy is Wrong
You've blocked 45 vendor meetings across four days. You've colour-coded your calendar. You feel prepared.
You're not. You're setting yourself up for a week of forgettable 30-minute demos that blur together by Wednesday afternoon.
Here's how to actually get value from RSA meetings.
Stop Taking 30-Minute Demos
The standard RSA meeting goes like this: 5 minutes of small talk, 20 minutes of slides and demo, 5 minutes of "next steps" that never happen. Multiply by 12 meetings per day. By Thursday, you cannot remember which vendor had the dashboard with the purple graphs.
The demo is not the point. You can get a demo any time. You're at RSA for the conversations you can't have over Teams.
Instead: Cut your meeting count in half. Make the remaining meetings 45 minutes. Use the extra time to actually talk.
Ask Different Questions
Most buyers ask about features, integrations, and pricing. These are table stakes questions you could ask over email.
The questions that matter:
"What's the hardest part of deploying this for a company like mine?"
"Who tried to buy you and why didn't it work out?"
"What do your churned customers say when they leave?"
"If I called three of your customers right now, what would they complain about?"
"What's the thing you're building that I don't know I need yet?"
Use the Walk-By Test
If you're wandering the expo floor with time to kill, don't stop at booths. Walk by slowly. The vendors who grab you with a question about your problems are worth talking to. The vendors who grab you with a pitch about their features are not.
The best booth conversations start with "What are you trying to solve?" not "Let me tell you about our platform."
Do Your Real Research in the Hallways
The expo floor is a sales environment. Everyone is performing. The hallways, coffee lines, and evening events are where people speak freely.
The questions that work in hallway conversations:
"What's the most interesting thing you've seen so far?" - Gets recommendations from people without sales agendas.
"Are you evaluating or just browsing?" - Identifies other practitioners you can compare notes with.
"What do you think about [vendor you just met with]?" - Gets unfiltered peer opinions.
Build Your Anti-Meeting Schedule
Block two hours each day with no meetings. Not "maybe available" time. Actually blocked. Use it for:
Hallway conversations with people you bump into
Following up on unexpected introductions
Processing what you've learned before it evaporates
Eating actual food instead of grabbing a protein bar between meetings
The vendors will try to fill every slot. Your job is to protect your thinking time.
The Thursday Rule
Don't schedule anything important for Thursday afternoon. You'll be exhausted. Your notes will be illegible. Your enthusiasm will be depleted.
Use Thursday morning for your most important remaining conversations, when you still have enough energy to be sharp. Then leave.
What Actually Matters
At the end of RSA, you should have:
Three vendors worth a serious follow-up evaluation (not 15 "let's schedule a call" conversations that never happen)
Five peer connections you can actually call when you have questions
One insight that changes how you think about a problem you're facing
Zero regrets about missing sessions you can watch on video later
Everything else is noise.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
Enterprise AI Agent Security for the Agentic Era
Website - https://www.onyx.security
A big entrance this week from another Israeli cyber powerhouse. Onyx launched with a $40M seed round (functionally a Series A) backed by CyberStarts and Conviction Partners, two of the most respected names in cyber investing.
Founded in 2024 and based in Tel Aviv with offices in New York, Onyx has developed an enterprise AI security platform providing visibility, governance, and protection for organisations deploying AI agents.
As enterprises race to deploy autonomous AI systems, most have zero visibility into what those agents are actually doing. Traditional security tools weren't built for this. Onyx is betting that AI agent security becomes as fundamental as endpoint security or IAM.
Rather than retrofitting legacy tools, Onyx:
Discovers and catalogs all AI agents across the enterprise, including shadow AI deployments
Enforces policies on what agents can access, do, and communicate with
Monitors agent behaviour in real-time, flagging anomalies and policy violations
Identifies and prioritises security risks before they become incidents
Integrates with existing security stacks for rapid incident response
Funding and Momentum
On March 12, 2026, Onyx raised $40M in a seed round led by:
Conviction Partners (Sarah Guo)
CyberStarts (Gili Raanan, Hila Zigman)
Flex Capital
Sunflower Capital
Leadership
Maxim Kogan - Co-Founder & CEO
Gil Elbaz - Co-Founder & Chief AI Officer
Timothy Youngblood - Chief Strategy Officer
Board includes: Nadir Izrael and Yevgeny Dibrov alongside the founders and lead investors.
HOT JOBS
Enterprise Account Executive
💰 $140K base, double OTE
📍 East Coast
An AI SOC platform using autonomous agents to investigate and triage security alerts automatically.
Contact: [email protected]
Enterprise Account Executive
💰 $150K base, double OTE
📍 US
Deception technology vendor trapping attackers and recovering stolen credentials before breach.
Contact: [email protected]
Founding Account Executive
💰 $180K base + lucrative OTE ($500K+ Year 1)
📍 US
Wide Agentic cyber service platform augmenting SecOps with AI digital workers. Land grab opportunity.
Contact: [email protected]
Enterprise Account Executive
💰 $160K-$170K base, double OTE
📍 TOLA or West Coast
Leader in CTEM. Validates exposures, prioritises risk, drives continuous threat exposure management.
Contact: [email protected]
Sales Director
💰 $180K base, $320K OTE
📍 US
Series A continuous pen testing platform combining human experts with automated tools.
Contact: [email protected]
VP Product Management
💰 Up to $320K + bonus + equity
📍 East Coast US
$150M ARR vendor helping enterprises detect and control malicious bots, fraud, and automated abuse.
Contact: [email protected]
Director of Engineering
💰 Up to $250K + equity
📍 US
Remote Next-gen SIEM simplifying security operations and improving detection effectiveness.
Contact: [email protected]
Customer Platform Architect
💰 Up to £110K
📍 UK Remote
AI-driven cyber threat intelligence platform driving actionable intelligence for security operations and risk decision-making.
Contact: [email protected]
Ready to make your next move? These roles won't stay open long.
📥 INBOX INTEL
Have market intelligence to share? Our network sees deals before they're announced, hiring freezes before they're public, and technology shifts before they hit the headlines.
Send us your tips:
Funding rounds in stealth mode
Executive movements and reorganizations
Customer wins/losses that signal market shifts
Technology partnerships before they're announced
Hiring sprees or freezes at specific companies
Email: [email protected]
All sources protected. We verify before we publish.
The Trident Radar - Intelligence that moves faster than your competition
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Editor: Ryan Keeley | London