Cato Networks Acquires Aim Security and Raises $50M to Bolster AI-Driven Cybersecurity

Israel's Cato Networks buys Aim Security, raises another $50 million

JERUSALEM, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Israeli cyber security firm Cato Networks said on Wednesday it was buying cyber startup Aim Security, its first ever acquisition, and raising another $50 million in a private funding round. Cato also said it had surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue. It did not disclose how much it was paying for Aim but sources close to the deal said it was around $350 million. Cato in June raised $359 million in a funding round, valuing the cybersecurity firm at more than $4.8 billion, as investors bet on growing demand for artificial intelligence-driven security and networking solutions. An uptick in sophisticated cyberattacks has prompted fears of operational disruptions among companies and an increase in investor interest in AI-powered cybersecurity providers. The latest funding brings its total raised in the round to $409 million, it said, adding the financing took place on the same terms and valuation. Cato, founded in 2015 by Shlomo Kramer and Gur Shatz, combines network services and security into a single cloud platform known as secure access service edge (SASE). "AI transformation will eclipse digital transformation as the main force that will shape enterprises over the next decade," said Kramer, who is CEO of Cato Networks. "With the acquisition of Aim Security, we're turbo-charging our SASE platform with advanced AI security capabilities to secure our customers' journey into the new and exciting AI era." Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Israeli Startups Cato, Aim Ink Deal as Nations Clamor for More AI

Israeli startup Cato Networks, a leader in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) cybersecurity, has made its first buy for an undisclosed price in AI-focused startup Aim Security. The deal is the latest move by an Israeli firm to add cybersecurity and artificial intelligence to its toolbox, while finding major financial backers to take it the next steps strategically. “AI transformation is by far the biggest tsunami that I’ve seen in terms of impact on the enterprise, in terms of velocity and in terms of the security challenge,†Cato’s chief executive officer and co-founder, Shlomo Kramer, told Bloomberg. “This is a completely new area in security in which the security stack needs to be developed from zero.†The influx of capital brings Cato’s valuation to around $4.8 billion, with total funding now exceeding $1 billion. Cato says it gets rid of things like routers and firewalls to make a seamless, cloud-based security system. The acquisition of Aim, which brings advanced AI governance and detection tools, including defenses against AI-specific threats like the recently disclosed “EchoLeak†Copilot flaw, is supposed to be a snap-on buy with Cato's positioning as a unified security platform for the AI era. Cato’s investor base brings a combination of deep-pocketed institutional backing and strategic insight. Vitruvian and ION offer growth capital, while Lightspeed, Acrew, and Adams Street have provided multi-stage support since early SASE development. This brings both financial muscle and sector expertise to Cato's expansion. Aim Security’s backersâ€"Canaan, GV, and othersâ€"are well known for nurturing early-stage cybersecurity and AI startups. Their exit through acquisition by Cato delivers a successful venture outcome and reinforces the emerging value of AI-security innovation. As AI becomes embedded in enterprise operations from automation to analytics, the pressure on businesses to defend those systems is growing. Cato’s acquisition positions the company to capture that demand. But success hinges on its ability to integrate Aim’s technologies effectively and deliver tangible security outcomes in a fragmented regulatory landscape. The fact that everyone involved in the deal is Israeli might not mean much to Wall Street, but it could give the deal a higher profile given the ongoing war in Gaza. Israeli security firms, or tech of any kind from the country, have received heightened scrutiny by anti-war activists or institutions looking to divest from investments in Israeli communities. Aim was founded 2022 by Matan Getz (CEO) and Adir Gruss (CTO), both alumni of the IDF’s elite Unit 8200. Their backgrounds in and of themselves are not remarkable, because all Israelis are required to join the military at the age of 18. But the skills that many Israelis learn in the IDF, which has some of the most advanced technology in warfare and security in the world, have made them a popular draw for investors in technology firms. This particular partnerships happens against a backdrop of escalating political focus on AI governance. Major AI firms, with OpenAI and Anthropic among them, have invested heavily in lobbying during mid-2025, pushing to shape regulation through Super PACs and federal engagement. Simultaneously, the U.S. administration’s AI Action Plan emphasized "permissionless innovationâ€, streamlining regulation to rapidly scale AI infrastructure, while potentially weakening guardrails around misinformation, bias, and environmental safeguards. (ITPro) Beyond the U.S., the regulatory environment is fragmenting. Europe moves ahead with restrictive AI frameworks, while Australia warns against AI’s potential to produce harmful deepfakes or facilitate bioweapon development. The plain English translation for that? The U.S. is hitting the gas on getting AI approved and to market, while the Europeans are taking a more cautious approach. How each region uses AI in its security apparatus depends on the country, but also bring in renewed looks at if how they are using Israeli technology is in-line with national laws and ethics. Against this patchwork of regulatory shifts, Cato’s acquisition of Aim aligns with the broader AI security rubric and signals a proactive repositioning. As proposed AI incident regimes germinate in Washington, there will be growing demand for platforms that can identify and neutralize threats post-deployment. (Cato blog, Atlantic Council) Cato's first acquisition in 2025 lands as European and U.S. policies diverge, with one side erecting guardrails, the other easing them. Its success will depend on navigating evolving disclosure obligations, cross-border cyber provisions, and maintaining trust amid uncertainty. If executed deftly, Cato could offer enterprises a consolidated solution amid regulatory complexity. But missteps may manifest as compliance failures or governance misfires, reinforcing concerns about AI firms’ role in shaping policy through technological dominance. Cato’s Series G round, extended to $409 million, is anchored by new investors Vitruvian Partners and ION Crossover Partners, alongside a strong lineup of returning backers including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Acrew Capital, and Adams Street Partners. The latest tranche of $50 million came from Acrew, reflecting deep confidence in Cato's AI-infused SASE direction. On the other hand, Aim Security, established in 2022, was backed by investors including Canaan Partners, YL Ventures (Yoav Leitersdorf’s fund), CCL Fund (Cyber Club London), GV, Mercer Ventures, Proofpoint, and StoneMill Ventures. The company had raised approximately $28 million across Seed and Series A rounds prior to the acquisition.

Cato Networks acquires Aim Security to expand AI security capabilities - SiliconANGLE

Cato Networks acquires Aim Security to expand AI security capabilities Cloud networking company Cato Networks Ltd. announced today that it has acquired Israeli artificial intelligence security company Aim Security Ltd. for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2022, Aim Security focuses on protecting how employees, applications and organizations interact with AI by delivering visibility, control and governance over AI use. The company's platform integrates directly into enterprise environments to allow businesses to use AI confidently while addressing security and compliance risks. Aim Security secures employee use of public AI applications such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Cursor and other AI agents by monitoring and protecting end-user AI interactions. The platform uncovers shadow AI usage, mitigates risks and ensures organizations can safely expand AI adoption, allowing companies to unlock AI use cases without sacrificing data protection or compliance they often legally require. The company also provides protection for private AI applications and agents, with its AI Firewall defending internal AI systems against runtime attacks and enforcing corporate security and governance policies. Aim Security says that it ensures that all interactions between users, AI agents and AI models are governed and secured to prevent data leaks and policy violations, whether on-premises or in the cloud. Along with computational protection, Aim also has a research team that actively identifies emerging threats in AI. Aim's researchers were the first to discover EchoLeak (CVE-2025-32711), the first reported zero-click AI vulnerability in Microsoft 365 Copilot, in June. With its credentials in AI security, Aim Security is intended to allow Cato Networks to extend its SASE Cloud Platform with new AI security capabilities. Aim's capabilities will be used by Cato Networks to address the complexity and unstructured nature of AI interactions, as well as the evolving AI attack surface, to detect and stop threats, attacks, risky or anomalous access and data breaches. "AI transformation will eclipse digital transformation as the main force that will shape enterprises over the next decade," said Cato Networks co-founder and Chief Executive Shlomo Kramer. "With the acquisition of Aim Security, we're turbocharging our SASE platform with advanced AI security capabilities to secure our customers' journey into the new and exciting AI era." Coming into its acquisition, Aim Security had raised $28 million over two rounds, including a Series A round of $18 million in June 2024. Investors in the company included Canaan Partners Management, YL Ventures Ltd. and Cyber Club London Ltd. Along with the acquisition of Aim Security, Cato Networks also announced today that it has extended its last funding round , a Series G round from June, with an additional $50 million in investment. The additional funding takes the amount raised in the round to $409 million.

Israeli cyber security firm Cato Networks buys Aim Security, raises another $50 million - The Economic Times

Cato in June raised $359 million in a funding round, valuing the cybersecurity firm at more than $4.8 billion, as investors bet on growing demand for artificial intelligence-driven security and networking solutions.Israeli cyber security firm Cato Networks said on Wednesday it was buying cyber startup Aim Security, its first ever acquisition, and raising another $50 million in a private funding round. Cato also said it had surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue. It did not disclose how much it was paying for Aim but sources close to the deal said it was around $350 million. Cato in June raised $359 million in a funding round, valuing the cybersecurity firm at more than $4.8 billion, as investors bet on growing demand for artificial intelligence-driven security and networking solutions. An uptick in sophisticated cyberattacks has prompted fears of operational disruptions among companies and an increase in investor interest in AI-powered cybersecurity providers. The latest funding brings its total raised in the round to $409 million, it said, adding the financing took place on the same terms and valuation. Cato, founded in 2015 by Shlomo Kramer and Gur Shatz, combines network services and security into a single cloud platform known as secure access service edge (SASE). "AI transformation will eclipse digital transformation as the main force that will shape enterprises over the next decade," said Kramer, who is CEO of Cato Networks. "With the acquisition of Aim Security, we're turbo-charging our SASE platform with advanced AI security capabilities to secure our customers' journey into the new and exciting AI era."