Aim Security, an Israeli cybersecurity startup offering enterprises a holistic, one-stop shop GenAI security platform, today announced $10 million in seed funding. The round was led by YL Ventures, with participation from CCL (Cyber Club London), the founders of WIZ and angel investors from Google, Proofpoint and Palo Alto Networks. Aim Security was founded by cybersecurity veterans Matan Getz, CEO and Adir Gruss, CTO who pioneered the use and adoption of AI and big data tools in the IDF’s elite intelligence Unit 8200.
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Aim Security founders (r.) Matan Getz, CEO; (l.) Adir Gruss, CTO (Photo: Business Wire)
Generative AI isn’t the future of technology, it’s the present. McKinsey & Company’s report on “The State of AI in 2023” states that one-third of respondents use GenAI regularly in at least one business function and 40% of respondents indicate that their organizations plan to increase their investment in AI overall. Interestingly and concerningly, 53% of those surveyed in McKinsey’s report consider cybersecurity risks the most acute risks of GenAI adoption, but only 38% of respondents who reported GenAI adoption state that they are able to mitigate GenAI risks.
“The stringent regulations of the finance industry and our concern for our customers’ data make GenAI adoption challenging,” says Drew Robertson, CISO at Finance of America. “Aim secures the entire breadth of our GenAI use, no matter where it is applied — public SaaS apps, enterprise chats or our own internal developments — and helps us place and enforce the guardrails that fit our industry regulations and unique needs.”
GenAI is implemented in three main ways, each with its unique risk surface. Public GenAI tools and 3rd party apps with embedded GenAI features accelerate how employees send sensitive data to external tools. Some of these tools may be ungoverned and unsanctioned by security teams, who must then chase the adoption of these Shadow AI tools, mapping each of their unique risks and understanding what tools are training their models on the data submitted. In addition, there is a massive and growing adoption of GenAI-powered copilots by enterprises. These hyper-productivity tools connect to the company’s environment and may break all existing trust boundaries, flatten the authorization layer and create unauthorized data access. Companies have also realized the immense value of using GenAI agents and AI-led development to augment their own applications, leading to ownership and GenAI regulation issues, safety questions regarding malicious and manipulated GenAI output and unique attack vectors such as jailbreaks and prompt injection.
Traditional security tools lack the specific expertise required to understand the foundations of GenAI and the scope of its risk, and these are blind spots that organizations can’t see until it’s too late. “This enormous risk surface is replete with unique attack vectors that existing security solutions cannot sufficiently address,” says Matan Getz, CEO and co-founder of Aim Security. “Much like the cloud revolution and the bespoke security solutions that followed, the GenAI revolution requires an entirely new approach to addressing its unique vulnerabilities and vectors.”
Across the organization, business users and developers can leverage GenAI technology while Aim provides security teams with the oversight, visibility and control they never had. Aim’s unparalleled GenAI Protection Suite is a holistic platform that is dedicated to continuously addressing these risks while ensuring increased productivity and secure GenAI adoption.
“While the market is still finding its footing in the GenAI wilderness, Aim is already arming its customers with everything they need to address emerging GenAI security threats while providing invaluable business insights on GenAI use,” says Ofer Schreiber, Senior Partner at YL Ventures. “Matan and Adir are true visionaries whose innovative approach is crucial when breaking into a constantly evolving new sector. They already have a strong customer base, indicating an exceptional ability to quickly execute while continuing to address customer needs along their GenAI journey.”
A comprehensive security solution for any GenAI use, Aim goes beyond security. It provides organizations with critical insights that augment their understanding of how GenAI can be used to drive business goals. “In our business, GenAI is truly revolutionary for our daily productivity and efficiency,” says Elie AbenMoha, CISO at a Global 1000 media company. “We are deeply invested in the space and leading innovative integrations of GenAI to our environment. The pivotal role of security in shaping the deployment architecture and establishing policy cannot be overstated. I am delighted to have Aim’s expertise guiding us through this crucial process.”
“Aim gives us complete visibility of employee GenAI usage, with proactive guardrails and preventive controls, elevating the MIO Information Security team as a business enabler,” says Israel Bryski, CISO at MIO Partners, Inc. “Aim’s business-forward approach and nimbleness served a critical role in MIO’s GenAI Exploration Committee, helping us shape our GenAI strategy rooted in a strong security foundation.”
For more information on how Aim Security can help drive secure GenAI adoption, please visit: Aim.Security
Additional Quotes
“Not only has Aim helped us verify that sensitive data is not leaked to public GenAI tools, but they also provided a secure alternative, transforming our security team into true business enablers. As a health-tech company, we must utilize the most forward-thinking technologies to enhance our products. With Aim, we are confident about the level of security we provide and can accelerate our GenAI adoption without concern.” Sarah Hendrickson, CISO at Cerebral
“Generative AI is the future of business and can’t be secured using traditional security strategies and tools. Aim introduces an entirely new, holistic approach and specific expertise to secure the unique risks of GenAI, with a quick time-to-value and a streamlined approach.” Michael Sutton, former CISO at Zscaler
“After helping companies secure their data for over 20 years, I can say with certainty that the legacy security stack can’t help companies secure their proprietary and regulated data in the GenAI age. A new, innovative platform is needed to address the unique challenges that GenAI uncovers. Aim is exactly what you need in your current security stack, to ensure your data is protected.” Yair Grindlinger, former SVP of Product at Proofpoint
About Aim Security
The Age of GenAI will radically transform the traditional security stack. Aim Security is the industry guide to secure GenAI adoption, equipping security leaders with the ability to drive business productivity while providing the right guardrails and ensuring proactive protection for all use cases across the entire organization, whether enterprise use or production use. Leading CISOs and security practitioners on their secure GenAI journey, Aim empowers enterprises to unlock the full potential of GenAI technology without compromising security.
About YL Ventures
YL Ventures funds and supports visionary cybersecurity entrepreneurs from seed to scale to help them evolve transformative ideas into market-leading companies. The firm accelerates company growth with tailored support through its powerful network of Chief Information Security Officers, global industry leaders and a dedicated team of multidisciplinary experts. Based in Silicon Valley, New York and Tel Aviv, YL Ventures manages five funds with $800M in total AUM. The firm has a track record of seeding cybersecurity unicorns such as Axonius and Orca Security and its portfolio companies have been successfully acquired by high-profile, global industry leaders including Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, Okta and Proofpoint. In 2022, YL Ventures ranked 8th out of over 250 venture capital firms in PitchBook’s prestigious Global Manager Performance Score League Tables and was the only cybersecurity-focused VC to secure a top 10 spot.
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