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It was an AI-security heavy week. Two headline acquisitions, a major IPO and strong rounds in Tel Aviv and Central Europe.
A little bit of a change up this week, slight formatting changes and a few tonal shifts.
Let's dive in.
AI security consolidation: CrowdStrike buys Pangea for roughly $260 million to build out full-lifecycle AI detection and response.
Check Point expands its AI security stack with acquisition of Lakera, aiming for runtime enforcement and pre-deployment model safeguards.
Public markets lighten up for cyber: Netskope raised $908 million in its IPO, shares up on debut.
Big money into SIEM disruption: Israel’s Vega raised $65 million to replace legacy SIEM with what they call a Security Analytics Mesh. Valued at $400M.
Agentic pentesting gets serious: Terra Security’s $30 million Series A to build AI agents with human supervision to continuously find bugs.
FUNDING SPOTLIGHT
Vega – Seed + Series A – $65M (Accel leading)
Threat detection and investigation platform that analyzes data where it already lives instead of forcing centralization. Valued at ~$400M. Backed by Accel, Redpoint, Cyberstarts, and CRV.
Remedio – Seed/Series A – $65M (Bessemer leading)
Device posture management with continuous remediation. Bootstrapped and profitable for six years before raising. Focused on reducing alert fatigue and simplifying endpoint compliance.
Ray Security – Seed – $11M (Ibex Investors & Venture Guides leading)
Predictive data security startup from Tel Aviv. Forecasts data usage and applies adaptive protection before breaches happen.
Terra Security – Series A – $30M (Felicis leading)
New York company delivering continuous web app pentesting with AI agents supervised by experts. Winner of the CrowdStrike + AWS Cybersecurity Accelerator.
SEON – Series C – $80M (Sixth Street Growth leading)
Fraud and AML detection platform. Focused on real-time monitoring and expansion into North America.
RegScale – Series B – $30M+ (Washington Harbour Partners leading)
Continuous Controls Monitoring platform that turns compliance from periodic checklists into streaming data.
M&A INTELLIGENCE
CrowdStrike → Pangea (announced Sept 16)
CrowdStrike wants to control every layer of enterprise AI security. Pangea’s tech gives them prompt-layer guardrails, runtime model controls, and data protection woven into Falcon. Terms weren’t disclosed, but multiple outlets report the price around $260M.
This is a category-creation play. CrowdStrike isn’t just adding AI features; they’re positioning themselves as the “SOC for AI” with their new AIDR branding. That sets the bar for every other endpoint and SOC vendor. If CRWD succeeds, customers will expect “AI security as a platform feature,” not a bolt-on.
Check Point → Lakera (announced Sept 16, expected close Q4 2025)
Lakera, based in Zurich, becomes the foundation for Check Point’s Global Center of Excellence for AI Security. Terms undisclosed. Lakera’s value is in runtime protection plus continuous red-teaming for LLMs and agents.
Check Point is making a bold bet that AI security will be won in Europe. By anchoring in Zurich, they gain proximity to Swiss AI research talent and enterprise customers. This is also a statement: they don’t want to play catch-up with Palo Alto or CrowdStrike and are matching the Pangea announcement.
Takeaway: Two acquisitions on the same day by two very different giants tell the story: runtime AI security is now non-negotiable. The M&A window is wide open, and any credible AI security startup is now an acquisition target.
INSIDER INSIGHT
SIEM’s Big Neon Target
Vega’s $65M raise is more than just another Israeli headline. It’s a warning flare for the entire SIEM industry. (Vega feature in our company spotlight this week!!)
Security teams have lived with SIEM’s headaches for years:
Data has to be centralized before it can be analyzed.
Deployments take months, sometimes years.
Licensing is eye-watering.
The actual investigations? Often slow, brittle, and painful.
Vega is betting on a different approach: don’t move the data. Build an analytics mesh that can sit across whatever stack an enterprise already has. It’s faster, cheaper, and lighter to roll out.
Why it matters:
Customer pain is real. Teams are desperate for faster investigation without another multi-year SIEM migration.
Incumbents are vulnerable. Legacy SIEMs still command large budgets, but that spend is up for grabs if new tools prove they can do the job with less friction.
This is just the start. Vega is first out of the gate with $65M, but expect more startups to follow.
Translation: SIEM isn’t dead yet, but the neon “disrupt me” sign is flashing bright.
HOT JOBS aka “the week of the AE”
Enterprise Account Executive | TOLA, NYC, Chicago
Open-source cybersecurity platform covering threat intelligence management, breach and attack simulation, and cyber risk management. $360K OTE.
Contact: [email protected]
Account Executive | New York
Attack simulation platform built to reflect real adversary behavior. Rapid response to emerging threats within hours. $250K OTE.
Contact: [email protected]
Founding Account Executive | Tel Aviv
Data protection company providing full visibility into sensitive data movement with automated leak detection and seamless deployment. $360K OTE.
Contact: [email protected]
Founding Account Executive | New York / Remote
AI-powered security platform redefining data and cloud protection. $330K OTE.
Contact: [email protected]
Account Executive | NYC/Remote
Series A threat-led defense company. Maps adversary behavior to security stacks. $350K OTE.
Contact: [email protected]
Ready to make your next move? These roles won't stay open long.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
Vega - https://vega.io/
Founders: Shay Sandler (CEO), Eli Rozen (CTO) – both ex-Granulate.
Funding: $65M seed + Series A, valuation around $400M.
HQ: Split between Tel Aviv and New York.
What they do: Vega is building an AI-native security analytics platform that lets security teams investigate and detect threats directly where the data already lives. No heavy ETL, no central warehouse needed. They call this a Security Analytics Mesh.
Why this matters:
Security teams waste huge time trying to locate data across silos. Vega’s approach could cut that dramatically.
If it works, Vega might not just compete with SIEM, they could redefine what a security operations platform looks like.
They’re already landing early enterprise customers. With Accel, Redpoint, Cyberstarts, and CRV behind them, expect global expansion fast.
What to watch: Integration with existing SIEMs will be tricky. If Vega can show fast time-to-value and measurable ROI, incumbents may be forced into acquisition mode.
BOTTOM LINE
For Security Vendors
If you don’t have an answer for runtime AI security or faster investigation workflows, customers will look elsewhere. Roadmaps need to solve these problems directly.
For Enterprise Buyers
Push vendors to prove value. Ask for clear metrics: how fast they detect misuse, how many prompt injections they block, how quickly investigations complete.
For Investors
The smart bets are in companies reducing friction: runtime controls, analytics mesh, continuous validation. Those are the painkillers buyers are paying for.
NEXT WEEK'S PREDICTIONS
Was I wrong last week 😉
Another US-based agentic AI security startup will announce funding.
Legacy SIEM vendors will start hinting at mesh-style analytics in roadmap updates.
Enterprise RFPs will begin to include “runtime AI enforcement” requirements.
📥 INBOX INTEL
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Funding rounds in stealth mode
Executive movements and reorganizations
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Editor: Ryan Keeley | London