Upwind Cyber Acquires Stealth AI Startup Aegis for $30 Million

Israeli cybersecurity firm Upwind, founded by serial entrepreneur Amiram Shachar, has acquired Aegis, a stealth startup founded earlier this year by former employees of SentinelOne and Sweet Security. The acquisition is reportedly valued at approximately $30 million in stock. Aegis, founded by Omri Limor and Saar Ankonyina, developed technology to identify AI agent-based attacks, which are difficult for current cybersecurity tools to detect. The startup had raised a few million dollars and received Upwind's acquisition offer during its recent funding round.

Aegis, which operated in a similar space to companies like Onyx and Noma, began a strategic collaboration with Upwind shortly after its inception. After nine months of operation and a few months of joint work, Upwind decided to acquire Aegis to integrate its team and technology into Upwind's platform. Aegis reportedly had no customers or revenue at the time of the acquisition.

Limor and Ankonyina, both graduates of Unit 8200 with offensive cyber backgrounds, will lead Upwind's new AI laboratory, to be named Upwind AI Security Labs. This lab will combine Aegis's technology and research with Upwind's existing cloud security capabilities, focusing on identifying new attack techniques, threat detection, and developing security solutions for AI environments. The lab currently comprises 12 developers and researchers from both companies, with plans to expand to 25 within a quarter.

Shachar intends to increase Upwind's merger and acquisition activity focused on AI products, citing the rapid evolution of AI's impact on cybersecurity and attacker capabilities. The acquisition follows a trend of cybersecurity companies acquiring AI-focused startups, including recent deals by Cato Networks, Palo Alto Networks, and Cyera.