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New Italian unicorn Exein rides the physical AI wave

Italian IoT-security startup Exein raised $270 million at a $1.7 billion valuation to build a security layer for physical AI and edge devices.

Rome-based Exein raised a $270 million round led by Headline at a $1.7 billion valuation, becoming Italy's new unicorn, with plans for M&A and US/APAC expansion. The company claims over 2 billion connected devices secured across aerospace, industrial automation, automotive, energy, healthcare, and semiconductors using its Photon kernel-level runtime protection. Exein is training a foundational model for physical AI security on machine telemetry, targeted for Q1 2027, and reports 400% year-on-year growth. The EU Cyber Resilience Act, whose reporting obligations began last week, is expected to further boost demand.

TechCrunch · Security · 1d agoIndustry

HelmGuard Raises $7.3 Million for Agentic GRC and Security

Agentic GRC and security startup HelmGuard raised a $7.3 million seed round co-led by Infinity Ventures and Frontline.

HelmGuard, a UK-based startup founded in 2024 by former Palantir executive John Daley (CEO) and Jack Miller (CTO), announced a $7.3 million seed round co-led by Infinity Ventures and Frontline, with participation from FinTech Collective, Stage 2 Capital, and Entrepreneurs First. The company builds agentic governance, risk and compliance (GRC) software that collects risk signals directly from integrated source systems and uses AI agents to automate risk management, assurance, and control gap assessments. It claims the platform cuts assessment cycles to hours by unifying fragmented compliance and security data.

SecurityWeek · 7d agoIndustry

Proofpoint Strengthens Executive Leadership Team with Appointment of Chief Legal Officer and Chief People Officer

Proofpoint appointed Brian Levey as Chief Legal Officer and Puja Jaspal as Chief People Officer, strengthening its executive leadership team.

Proofpoint announced on September 8, 2026 the appointments of Brian Levey as Chief Legal Officer and Puja Jaspal as Chief People Officer. Levey previously served as Chief Business Affairs & Chief Legal Officer at Upwork and spent 13 years at eBay; Jaspal was Chief People Officer at Fastly with prior senior roles at Cisco, Visa, and Google. The hires support Proofpoint's stated expansion around human and AI-agent security.

Proofpoint Threat Insight · 8d agoIndustry