IOT cybersecurity startup Exein has announced a $270 million funding round, taking its total funding to more than $600 million and valuing the Italy-based company at $1.7 billion. The oversubscribed round was led by Headline, with participation from Sofina, Goldman Sachs, the European Investment Bank Group, KfW Capital, Balderton, Lakestar and other venture firms.
Founded in 2018, Exein develops embedded and runtime security technology for IoT devices, targeting vulnerabilities, attacks and compliance issues. Its platform provides threat monitoring, detection and containment, alongside a kernel-level runtime security capability intended to block attacks before they execute. The company is now developing a proprietary foundation model for what it calls Physical AI security, trained on real-world machine activity. Exein says an agentic security architecture will support autonomous agents that protect systems at machine speed.
The new investment will support Exein’s international expansion, particularly in the US. Chief executive and founder Gianni Cuozzo said AI was moving “out of the cloud and into the physical world” and argued that shrinking patch windows and machine-speed attacks required equally rapid defences. The announcement describes the company’s future direction and planned technology; it does not report a specific attack, vulnerability or confirmed exploitation.