Onyx Security raises $40 million to secure AI agents as enterprises face new cybersecurity risks

Onyx Security Emerges with $40 Million to Address AI Agent Security Gap

Onyx Security officially launched operations after securing $40 million in initial funding, signaling strong investor confidence in addressing emerging AI cybersecurity risks as enterprises rapidly deploy autonomous AI agents across their operations 1

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. The Israeli cybersecurity firm emerged from stealth mode after operating quietly for the last year-and-a-half, already working with multiple Fortune 500 companies on what it describes as a secure AI control plane designed to govern AI agents with access to critical enterprise systems 3

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The funding round was led by venture firms Conviction Partners and Cyberstarts, alongside a group of angel investors 1

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. According to reporting, the $40 million funding consists of a $5 million seed round and $35 million Series A 2

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Why Enterprises Need to Secure and Control Artificial Intelligence Agents

"Every enterprise is becoming an agent operator -- whether they planned to or not," said Maxim Bar Kogan, co-founder and CEO of Onyx Security, who previously served in Israel's Unit 8200 military intelligence unit 1

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. Bar Kogan highlighted a pressing concern: "Agents are given access to the most critical systems in the enterprise, but what are our guarantees they will not make serious mistakes or get compromised? The safe adoption of AI agents requires security from attacks, as well as ensuring agents don't make critical mistakes" 3

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The platform is designed to discover AI agents operating within an organization, monitor their reasoning steps, and approve, block, or correct actions in real time to enforce security and governance policies 4

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. This approach addresses what Onyx identifies as new operational and security risks created by autonomous AI agents, including reasoning errors and hallucinations, as well as attacks delivered through malicious prompts 4

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Traditional Security Tools Struggle with New Attack Surface

Onyx argues that as organizations increasingly deploy AI agents across engineering, operations, and customer service workflows, these enterprise AI systems are gaining direct access to internal platforms and business processes, creating risks that traditional security tools struggle to address 2

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. The startup contends that conventional security solutions were built for predictable software and human-led workflows, not systems capable of acting autonomously 4

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Cyberstarts partner Hila Zigman emphasized this shift: "AI systems are becoming part of organizations' operational infrastructure, creating an entirely new attack surface" 4

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. This framing reflects the broader industry view that agent adoption is moving faster than the controls meant to govern it, making policy enforcement and threat detection capabilities critical for organizations deploying AI at scale.

Israeli Tech Sector Continues Strong Performance Despite Regional Tensions

The launch comes as Israel's technology sector continues to attract significant investment despite ongoing regional conflicts. The tech sector accounts for about 20% of GDP, 15% of jobs, and more than half of Israeli exports, with AI cybersecurity becoming a fast-growing segment 1

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. Israeli tech startups raised approximately $16 billion in 2025, up from $12.2 billion in 2024 3

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The Onyx Security launch follows Alphabet's Google completing its $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cyber firm Wiz, underscoring continued investor interest in the country's cybersecurity capabilities 1

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Expansion Plans and Market Positioning

Onyx was co-founded by Bar Kogan and Gil Elbaz, a veteran AI researcher who previously reported to Nvidia's CTO and also served in an IDF AI research unit 4

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. The company currently employs more than 70 people across Israel, the United States, and Canada 4

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. The funds will be used to expand product and engineering teams as well as develop new AI models 1

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Interestingly, Onyx Security was not alone in launching with $40 million funding to tackle AI security challenges. Bold Security also revealed $40 million in funding on the same day, though focused on a different approach: transforming enterprise endpoints into active security agents powered by AI 2

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. The simultaneous launches highlight intensifying investor focus on AI-native cyber defense as organizations navigate the security implications of widespread AI adoption across their infrastructure.