Belgian Firm Acquires Israeli AI Security Startup Ventris for $30-35 Million
Translated & summarized from Calcalist by baba
Belgian cybersecurity firm Hex-Rays has acquired Israeli startup Ventris for $30-35 million. Ventris, founded last year by Eilon Gliksberg, developed an operating system for AI agents in security research. The acquisition includes all Ventris employees joining Hex-Rays. The startup's system enhances security findings and reduces AI costs, serving both Israeli and international clients.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Hex-Rays acquired Israeli AI security startup Ventris for $30-35 million.
- Ventris was founded last year by 25-year-old Eilon Gliksberg without external investment.
- The startup developed an operating system for AI agents used in security research.
- All Ventris employees will join the acquiring Belgian company Hex-Rays.
- Ventris's system improves security findings and reduces AI model costs.
- Clients include governmental and business entities in Israel and globally.
Belgian cybersecurity firm Hex-Rays has acquired Ventris, an Israeli startup specializing in AI-driven security research, for $30-35 million. All Ventris employees will join Hex-Rays following the acquisition, and the company plans to hire additional cyber experts. Ventris, founded just last year without any external investment, developed an operating system for AI agents used in security research. The company's founder and CEO, Eilon Gliksberg, 25, began programming and cybersecurity work in middle school and served in various roles within Unit 8200, leading projects there. After his military service, he joined a startup as its first employee to gain experience before establishing his own company. Gliksberg has published research on vulnerability analysis and identified critical security flaws in major services. Recognizing the growing use of AI agents, he saw an opportunity to apply them to security research, making the process measurable and verifiable. Amit Shandel, who served with Gliksberg in Unit 8200 and is now Ventris's CTO, joined him after the company's founding. Ventris's clients include governmental and business entities in Israel and internationally. The company states its system significantly enhances the quality and quantity of security findings while reducing AI model costs by using open models, not solely relying on advanced ones from OpenAI or Anthropic. The Ventris system allows security researchers to define and run AI agent research processes, measure performance, and validate findings. It analyzes source code and binaries to detect known vulnerabilities, zero-days, malware, and backdoors, enabling large-scale security research with efficient token usage, independent of specific AI models, and capable of operating offline.