25-Year-Old Israeli Founder Sells AI Security Firm HexAI for Over $30 Million
Translated & summarized from Mako by baba
Hex-Rays has acquired HexAI, an AI security research startup founded by Eilon Gliksberg, for over $30 million, just over a year after its establishment. The deal was completed without HexAI having raised external investment. All six HexAI employees will join Hex-Rays, which plans to integrate the acquired AI system into its operations. HexAI's platform enhances security research by enabling the use and measurement of AI agents for vulnerability detection.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Hex-Rays acquired AI security firm HexAI for over $30 million, founded by Eilon Gliksberg.
- The acquisition occurred just over a year after HexAI's founding and without external investment.
- All six HexAI employees will join Hex-Rays, which will integrate the AI system into its operations.
- HexAI's platform uses AI agents for security research, improving vulnerability detection and reducing costs.
- Founder Eilon Gliksberg, 25, has a background in cybersecurity and served in Unit 8200.
Hex-Rays, a company specializing in reverse engineering tools, has acquired HexAI, formerly known as Ventris, for an estimated sum exceeding $30 million. The acquisition, which occurred just over a year after HexAI's founding in June 2025, was completed without the startup having raised any external investment capital. HexAI, founded by 25-year-old Eilon Gliksberg, developed a system for operating artificial intelligence agents in security research.
All six employees of HexAI will transition to Hex-Rays following the acquisition. The acquiring company plans to integrate HexAI's system into its operations, invest in its development, and expand its activity center in Israel. Hex-Rays also intends to incorporate experts from its own teams into the development process and create new research tools based on HexAI's expertise. The company will also recruit vulnerability researchers and developers with cyber experience.
Gliksberg, who began programming and cybersecurity work in middle school, served in various roles in Unit 8200 before joining the startup Elementary as its first employee. He has published research on vulnerability analysis, identifying critical security flaws in major companies and receiving payment for reporting them. Gliksberg founded HexAI to address what he saw as a gap in using AI agents for security research, aiming to make the process measurable and verifiable.
HexAI's system allows security researchers to define and run research processes using AI agents, measure their performance, and validate findings. The platform analyzes source code and binary files to detect known vulnerabilities (CVEs), zero-day exploits, malware, and backdoors. It supports large-scale research, efficient token usage, and can operate offline, independent of specific AI models. HexAI reports that its governmental and business clients have seen significant improvements in the quality and quantity of security findings, along with reduced costs for using AI models.
Hex-Rays, with 35 years of experience in reverse engineering, aims to expand its capabilities into AI-driven security research with this acquisition. Its flagship product, IDA Pro, enables software analysis even without source code. The acquisition is intended to address further cybersecurity research challenges.
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