Israeli AI-based cybersecurity company Dream Security has completed a $35 million financing round. The company was founded last year by former spyware company NSO Group CEO Shalev Hulio, former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Gil Dolev, formerly of Adallom, NSO and the Prime Ministers Office.
The financing round was led by existing investors Aleph, who founding partner is Michael Eisenberg, and Dovi France's Group 11.
Hulio told "Globes" about closing the finance round, even though he is serving in the army reserves and despite the problematic economic situation. He said, "Foreign funds don't want to invest here and are afraid and nobody knows what is going to happen in Israel. Even customers are hesitating. It was very important for us to do something symbolic and in fact Michael and Dovi decided to lead a financing round in the midst of the war. The most touching thing is that I was in the army reserves when the signing took place, so Michael and all the management came to the Gaza border and the deal was signed there, while I was in uniform.
The platform developed by the company provides cybersecurity for enterprises and governments. Hulio told "Globes," "Our customers are huge companies that have many networks, governments and government agencies, critical infrastructures and even water companies, electricity companies, ports and oil refineries. All types of bodies that are highly computerized and are very sensitive to cyberattacks."
The solution offered by the company consists of a number of products that work together, to conduct a potential assessment of all cyber threats to the organization and predict possible attack paths. This is achieved swiftly through complete automation and without the installation of hardware or software. The system basically enables constant learning of the organization and the potential threats, and together with the dynamic detection system, reacts to various dynamic threats in real time and produces customized protective suites for entities and companies.
Hulio says that during the war, and after a number of main Israeli hospitals underwent cyberattacks, the company volunteered to provide its infrastructure to an Israeli hospital. "Because there were many cyberattacks on several hospitals, the way for our company's employees to actually volunteer and contribute was to provide our platform to a hospital that requested it, for free."
Dream Security's customers include the cybersecurity authority of a major European country, the Ministry of Justice of a large Asian country, which is responsible for all the country's courts and prisons. The company also provides its platform to a range of infrastructure companies in Israel including ports and oil refineries.
Dream Security has 70 employees of whom 60 are in Israel. Since the outbreak of the war, 10% of the workforce have been mobilized by the army reserves including Hulio himself. His personal assistant lives on Kibbutz Nirim on the Gaza border but survived the October 7 surprise attack.
Hulio says that so far as the company is concerned it is business as usual and even prospering. Despite the reluctance of the foreign investors, Hulio points out that "there are all kinds of Jewish funds that want to invest in Israel right now."
Dream Security raised $20 million in its pre-seed financing round last year, even before Dreamit was registered as a company. Among the investors were Adi Shalev, who was also the first investor in NSO and businessman Noam Lanir, as well as three Israeli cyber entrepreneurs - Yevgeny Dibrov and Nadir Izrael from Aramis, and Assaf Hefetz from Snyk. Assaf Rapaport also joined as an investor in the current round, according to the company.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 21, 2023.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.