Exein raises $270m at $1.7bn valuation for physical AI security

Italian cybersecurity startup Exein SpA has raised $270m at a valuation of $1.7bn, up from $700m in December, to build security for robots, vehicles and other machines running artificial intelligence. The round was significantly oversubscribed and led by Headline Management GmbH, with new backing from Sofina, Goldman Sachs, the European Investment Bank Group, KfW Capital and T.Capital alongside existing investors including Balderton Capital, HV Capital and Lakestar.

Founded in Rome in 2018, Exein puts security software inside device firmware so machines can defend themselves without relying on the surrounding network. More than 2 billion devices now carry its code across automotive, energy and robotics, and its Photon product runs at the operating system kernel to stop malicious code before it executes.

Exein said it sees about 5,000 new non-repetitive attacks a week across that installed base, five times the level of a year ago. It is training a proprietary foundation model on two years of device telemetry, with an agentic security architecture due by the end of the year and the first foundation models expected in the first quarter of 2027.

Asia-Pacific accounts for roughly half of revenue, and first-half annual recurring revenue was four times the year-earlier level. The company has opened a regional headquarters in Taiwan and a legal entity in Japan, with a South Korea office planned by 2027, and will use the new capital to open a Bay Area office and pursue acquisitions in Europe and the US.