Torq Secures $140 Million Funding at $1.2 Billion Valuation for AI-Driven Security Platform

Security Startup Torq Raises Cash at $1.2 Billion Valuation

The funding round is led by Merlin Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Evolution Equity Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. The Israeli cybersecurity startup Torq is planning to announce Sunday that it has closed a $140 million funding round, raising its valuation to $1.2 billion. Torq, which is based in Tel Aviv, offers what it says is an autonomous security operations platform designed from the ground up with artificial intelligence. Torq can automate repetitive work using AI agents, like wading through huge volumes of security alerts. That allows employees to focus on more complex, and potentially dangerous, issues. "You don't want your team to have a huge backlog and using your team just to do the simple things while you can automate everything," said Ofer Smadari, the company's chief executive officer and co-founder. The Israeli new outlet TheMarker previously reported that Torq had reached unicorn status with a new founding round without the specific amounts. The company was started in 2020, but it shifted focus a few years back after the introduction of generative AI, Smadari said. "By the end of 2022, ChatGPT came into our life, and we saw the opportunity to start building agents and AI functionality," he said, adding that the company introduced an AI agent for security operations in the summer of 2023. Now, he said, "You can automate and remediate everything." The funding round is led by Merlin Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Venture Partners and Greenfield Partners. The company has more than 300 employees, in Israel and the US, Smadari said. He and the other founders previously started a company called Luminate Security in 2017 and sold it to Symantec Corp. less than two years later for $250 million, he said. They started Torq in January 2020, just before the Covid-19 exploded into a pandemic. "We said, 'There is nothing like a big worldwide crisis to build another company,'" Smadari said.

Israeli cyber startup Torq raises $140 million at $1.2 billion valuation

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Israeli cyber startup Torq said on Sunday it raised $140 million at a $1.2 billion valuation, as it looks to speed up adoption of its artificial intelligence-driven security operations center (SOC) platform and expand into the U.S. market. Torq, which uses AI to provide security protection for companies, has now raised a total of $332 million since its inception in 2020. "This funding accelerates our mission to define and dominate the AI SOC market," said Ofer Smadari, CEO and co-founder, Torq. The company said its customer base includes multinationals including Marriott, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Uber and Virgin Atlantic. The latest funding round was led by Merlin Ventures, with participation from all existing investors, such as Evolution Equity Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Notable Capital, and Greenfield Partners. Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Security startup Torq raises cash at $1.2 billion valuation - The Economic Times

Torq, which is based in Tel Aviv, offers what it says is an autonomous security operations platform designed from the ground up with artificial intelligence. Torq can automate repetitive work using AI agents, like wading through huge volumes of security alerts. That allows employees to focus on more complex, and potentially dangerous, issues.The Israeli cybersecurity startup Torq is planning to announce Sunday that it has closed a $140 million funding round, raising its valuation to $1.2 billion. Torq, which is based in Tel Aviv, offers what it says is an autonomous security operations platform designed from the ground up with artificial intelligence. Torq can automate repetitive work using AI agents, like wading through huge volumes of security alerts. That allows employees to focus on more complex, and potentially dangerous, issues. "You don't want your team to have a huge backlog and using your team just to do the simple things while you can automate everything," said Ofer Smadari, the company's chief executive officer and co-founder. The Israeli new outlet TheMarker previously reported that Torq had reached unicorn status with a new founding round without the specific amounts. The company was started in 2020, but it shifted focus a few years back after the introduction of generative AI, Smadari said. "By the end of 2022, ChatGPT came into our life, and we saw the opportunity to start building agents and AI functionality," he said, adding that the company introduced an AI agent for security operations in the summer of 2023. Now, he said, "You can automate and remediate everything." The funding round is led by Merlin Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Venture Partners and Greenfield Partners. The company has more than 300 employees, in Israel and the US, Smadari said. He and the other founders previously started a company called Luminate Security in 2017 and sold it to Symantec Corp. less than two years later for $250 million, he said. They started Torq in January 2020, just before the Covid-19 exploded into a pandemic. "We said, 'There is nothing like a big worldwide crisis to build another company,'" Smadari said.

Agentic SOC Startup Torq Lands $1.2B Valuation, $140M Funding Round

The hyperautomation startup says it will use the funding to accelerate the expansion of its agentic-powered security operations platform. Torq, a hyperautomation startup that has invested heavily in partner enablement over the past year, announced it has extended its valuation to $1.2 billion in connection with a new funding round of $140 million. The agentic SOC (Security Operations Center) tools provider announced the closing of the Series D round, which was led by Merlin Ventures, on Sunday. Torq has now raised a total of $332 million in funding since its launch in 2020. [Related: The 20 Coolest Security Operations, Risk And Threat Intelligence Companies Of 2025] In a news release, the startup said it will use the funding to accelerate the expansion of its agentic-powered security operations platform. Key capabilities include enabling dramatically enhanced automation for security analyst activities such as improved alert triage and reduction in alert fatigue, according to the company. Torq said the main driver of its recent growth is the release of Torq AI Agents, which provide autonomous analysis and assessment of security incidents. Torq AI Agents are "enabling security teams to build and deploy sophisticated agents with minimal effort," the company said in the release. Recently, Torq has invested heavily in training and enablement for partners due to the fact that many account representatives and presales engineers have not been previously exposed to the security hyperautomation technology that Torq offers, said Sheldon Muir, head of global channels and alliances at Torq, in a previous interview with CRN. The startup has also emphasized human interactions during the on-boarding process, with a preference for in-person or Zoom conversations that can acquaint the partners not only with the product but also with the history and current landscape in their category, Muir said. In September 2024, when Torq raised $70 million in funding, co-founder and CEO Ofer Smadari told CRN that the vendor planned to boost its investments in the channel. Many of the largest security-focused solution providers have already become Torq partners, he said at the time "We are heavily investing in the big ones," Smadari said -- though he noted that the aim would be to expand more broadly within the channel to include regional solution providers.

Torq Raises $140 Million for Agentic AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platform | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The Torq AI SOC Platform uses artificial intelligence agents to manage security tasks, the company said in a Sunday (Jan. 11) press release. Torq's latest funding round brings its total funding to $332 million, lifts its valuation to $1.2 billion, and provides it with support from cybersecurity fund Merlin Ventures, which led the round and can provide access to commercial and public sector markets in the United States, according to the release. "We have achieved tremendous revenue growth, with Fortune 100 customers adopting our AI agents in their SOCs for everything from investigation to response," Torq CEO and co-founder Ofer Smadari said in the release. "Our partnership with Merlin Ventures is the definitive signal that Torq is now ready to scale this massive customer success into the high-stakes federal and public sector markets." The Torq AI SOC Platform detects and responds to security events at scale, according to the release. Its key features include AI agents that immediately triage low-fidelity alerts, allowing human analysts to focus on verified, high-impact threats, and a self-service agentic platform that enables customers to build their own agents with minimal effort, the release said. Merlin Ventures Managing Partner Shay Michel said in the release that Torq is redefining security operations by fusing automation and human judgment in a platform built for asymmetrical threats and real-world scale. "This is why Merlin is leading the investment," Michel said. "Our focus now is speed -- accelerating go-to-market, expanding across commercial and government markets, and building the next global category leader in AI security operations." Torq raised $70 million in Series C funding in September 2024, saying it aimed to expand its AI-first cybersecurity hyperautomation solutions. PYMNTS reported in July that a new generation of agentic AI-powered cybersecurity tools is emerging and providing threat prevention platforms that don't wait for alerts but seek out weak points in code, configurations or behavior and take defensive action automatically.