Rome-based cybersecurity startup Exein has secured $270 million in a new funding round, reaching a valuation of $1.7 billion. This valuation marks a 30-fold increase over the past two years. The round was led by Headline, with participation from Sofina, Goldman Sachs, the European Investment Bank Group via ETCI, KfW Capital, and T.Capital. Existing investors, including Balderton, HV, and Lakestar, also contributed.
The company reports that its annual recurring revenue for the first half of 2026 quadrupled compared to the previous year. Its security technology is currently deployed across more than two billion devices. Exein plans to use the new capital to expand its presence in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific markets, including potential office openings in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Earlier this year, Exein launched Photon, a kernel-level runtime security architecture. The company is also developing a proprietary foundation model for Physical AI security, trained on machine telemetry from its vast device network. It aims to release an agentic security architecture by the end of 2026, followed by its first foundation models in the first quarter of 2027.
The firm notes a significant rise in threats, currently encountering approximately 5,000 new, non-repetitive attacks each week. This figure represents a fivefold increase compared to the previous year. The startup focuses on securing autonomous systems, including robots, drones, and vehicles, which operate independently in the physical world.
