Cyberstarts

Cyberstarts Research

Investment Thesis

Cyberstarts is the preeminent early-stage cybersecurity venture firm, positioning itself as "the day one partner for industry-defining cybersecurity companies." Founded in 2018 by Gili Raanan—an engineer, serial entrepreneur, inventor of the CAPTCHA, and former General Partner at Sequoia Capital—Cyberstarts was built on a singular conviction: the best cybersecurity companies are built by exceptional founders who combine elite technical backgrounds with a deep understanding of adversarial threats.

The firm's investment philosophy is captured in its tagline "Where vulnerability unlocks real greatness"—a belief that founders who have faced genuine adversity (often as intelligence operatives or elite security engineers) build more resilient, category-defining companies. Cyberstarts invests exclusively in cybersecurity, with no diversification into adjacent sectors.

Sector Focus

Cyberstarts invests 100% in cybersecurity, spanning the full spectrum of enterprise security:

• Identity security and access management (Linx, Oasis, Newcore, Transmit Security)
• Cloud security and runtime protection (Upwind, Wiz)
• Data security posture management (Cyera, Dazz, Avalor)
• Browser and secure access (Island, Axis Security)
• API security (Noname Security)
• Blockchain and digital asset security (Fireblocks, Blockaid)
• Agentic AI security operations (Surf AI, Gambit, Onyx Security)
• Offensive security and autonomous remediation (A Security)
• Application security posture management (Bionic, Legit)
• Payment and financial fraud security (Trustmi)
• SecOps and threat detection (Vega, Zafran)

Stage Focus

Cyberstarts invests at the earliest possible stages—pre-concept, pre-seed, and seed. The firm explicitly describes itself as a "day one partner," often engaging with founders before they have a product or even a fully formed idea. Their proprietary "Sunrise" methodology is a systematic validation process that helps founders sharpen their thesis through real-world CISO feedback before any product is built. The fund has partnered on Day 1 with every major portfolio company including Wiz, Cyera, Island, and Fireblocks.

Check Size

Cyberstarts typically writes initial seed checks in the range of $1M–$15M. Gili Raanan has publicly discussed the firm's $6M seed investment in Wiz at founding. The firm maintains separate Opportunity Fund vehicles for follow-on investments in breakout companies: $480M Opportunity Fund I (closed 2023) and $380M Opportunity Fund II (closed September 2025). Total assets under management exceed $1.5 billion across five seed funds and two opportunity funds.

Lead Tendency

Cyberstarts consistently leads seed rounds. The firm has been the first and often only institutional check at founding for companies including Wiz, Cyera, Island, Fireblocks, and Upwind. Taking board seats and leading rounds is central to the firm's value-add model. Gili Raanan currently sits on 10 portfolio company boards.

CISO Network and the Sunrise Methodology

A key competitive differentiator is the Cyberstarts CISO network, comprising 60+ active CISOs who engage directly with portfolio founders from the earliest stages. This network provides real market signals, early customer relationships, and product validation that generalist VCs cannot replicate.

The "Sunrise" process is Cyberstarts' proprietary founder validation loop:

• Identifying the most urgent cybersecurity pain points in the market
• Finding exceptional founders with elite adversarial mindsets (often Unit 8200 alumni)
• Running 60+ CISO conversations to validate the problem before writing a line of code
• Designing go-to-market with demand built in from day one
• Launching into a market-ready environment with enterprise customers already engaged

The "Cybersparx" event (launched in Miami in 2025, 200+ attendees) is the firm's flagship community event connecting CISOs with portfolio founders.

Geographic Focus

Cyberstarts invests primarily in Israeli-founded companies, reflecting the deep talent pool from Unit 8200 and Israel's elite intelligence and security ecosystem. Many portfolio companies have dual headquarters (Tel Aviv + US). The CISO advisory network is predominantly US-based, giving Israeli founders immediate market access. The firm also backs US-founded companies; Surf AI, for example, is New York-based.

Recent Activity

Cyberstarts has been extremely active in 2025–2026:

• June 2026: Led seed in Newcore ($66M; AI agent identity management at $300M valuation) and A Security ($37M; autonomous offensive security with Lightspeed); portfolio company Cyera raised $600M at $9B valuation (224x return on Cyberstarts' initial investment)
• March 2026: Co-led seed in Surf AI ($57M; agentic security operations, New York-based); supported Linx in $50M identity security raise
• February 2026: Led seed in Gambit Security ($61M; autonomous resilience platform, with Kleiner Perkins and Spark Capital)
• September 2025: Closed $380M Opportunity Fund II, bringing total AUM above $1.4B
• July 2025: Launched $300M Employee Liquidity Fund for portfolio company employees
• June 2026: The Information reported Cyberstarts is plotting a new seed fund

Portfolio Highlights

Cyberstarts claims 50%+ representation in the worldwide private cybersecurity market cap, with a combined portfolio valuation of $65B:

• Wiz (wiz.io): Cloud security platform acquired by Google for $32B; Cyberstarts invested a $6M seed check at Day 1
• Cyera (cyera.io): Data security company valued at $9B; Cyberstarts generated 224x returns worth $1.2B+
• Island (island.io): Enterprise browser valued at $5B
• Fireblocks (fireblocks.com): Digital asset security infrastructure valued at $8B

Total: 9 exits, 2 decacorns, 5 unicorns, 28 investments to date.

Notable Exits

• Wiz — acquired by Google for $32B
• Noname Security — acquired by Akamai for approximately $450M
• Bionic — acquired by CrowdStrike
• Axis Security — acquired by Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) in 2022
• Avalor — acquired by Zscaler
• Dazz — acquired by CrowdStrike
• Savvy — exited
• Trail — exited
• Trustdome — exited

Team

• Gili Raanan (Founder & General Partner): Inventor of CAPTCHA; holder of 10 US security patents; built first WAF (web application firewall); served in Unit 8200 and won Israel Defense Presidential Prize (1996); founded two enterprise software companies acquired by EMC and IBM; former General Partner at Sequoia Capital (9 years, led Israel investing); named #4 on 2026 Forbes Midas List and #1 on Forbes Seed List; based in Mikhmoret, Israel
• Lior Simon (General Partner): 10+ years in venture capital; began at Sequoia Capital in 2012; former Head of Israel at Arbor Ventures; currently on boards of Cyera, Oasis, and Zafran; named to Forbes Midas Brink List (2026); grew up between US and Israel
• Dor Knafo (General Partner, joined 2025): Former CEO and Co-Founder of Axis Security (raised $100M+, acquired by HPE 2022); Unit 8200 veteran; based in Tel Aviv
• Hila Zigman (General Partner, joined 2023): Former founding Chief Product Officer at Noname Security (acquired by Akamai for ~$500M); Israel Military Intelligence Unit veteran
• Pete Chronis (Operating Partner): 20+ years as enterprise CISO at Paramount, WarnerMedia, Turner Broadcasting, EarthLink; author of The Cyber Conundrum (2018); serves on Cyera board; frequent keynote speaker on cybersecurity and AI risk
• Adam Aarons (Operating Partner, named 2025): Former CRO at Okta (scaled $1M to $300M ARR, led IPO); 30+ years scaling enterprise software at Drata, BMC Software, BladeLogic, PTC; joined as GTM Venture Partner in 2024
• Jason Clark (Chairman, CISO Advisory Board): Connects the CISO network to portfolio founders
• Shirley Hermann (Vice President)

Fund History and AUM

Cyberstarts has raised more than $720 million across five seed funds since founding in 2018. In addition:

• Opportunity Fund I (2023): $480M for follow-on investments
• Employee Liquidity Fund (2025): $300M
• Opportunity Fund II (closed September 2025): $380M
• Total AUM: $1.5B+
• New fund: Being planned as of June 2026

Decision Process

Cyberstarts operates with a partnership model. Four General Partners (Gili Raanan, Lior Simon, Dor Knafo, Hila Zigman) collaborate on investment decisions, supported by Operating Partners with deep GTM and CISO expertise. The firm prides itself on moving rapidly—enabled by deep domain expertise—and engaging founders well before traditional VCs would. Gili Raanan functions as the primary dealmaker and most active board member (10 boards).