AI is a data problem. Cyera is now raising up to $300 million at a $1.5 billion valuation for its security

A cybersecurity startup called Walk It is betting that the next big challenge in protecting enterprise data will be artificial intelligence, and it is raising a big round of funding as demand for it soars.

The company — which builds AI-powered tools to create accurate pictures of where and how data is used in enterprise networks — is close to closing a roughly $300 million round, tripling its valuation to $1.5 billion in the process, according to sources. Very close to the deal. Sources say that the famous venture firm Coatue is leading the financing round.

The deal is expected to be completed in early April. It is not clear which other investors are participating in this round. Before that, Cyera — pronounced “sierra” and based in San Mateo with roots in Israel — had raised a total of $160 million at its current valuation of $500 million dating back to last year.

Previous backers of Cyera include Sequoia (which led the previous two rounds, including a $100 million round less than a year ago, in June 2023), Accel, Redpoint, and Israeli firms CyberStarts and Cerca Partners, among others.

Cyera, Coatue and Sequoia declined to comment.

it was there Rumors From this tour Generalization Advance this month. Since then we can confirm that the amount raised has increased by approximately $150 million, and before now the names of the investors were not known.

This latest investment in Cyera is notable in several ways.

First, it highlights how cybersecurity – despite broader pressures in the tech economy and enterprise market – continues to attract business, investors and big checks – even from companies like Kuato that have pulled back from some of their more active bets. (In particular, Kuato close (a relatively new investment office in London earlier this year, a sign that it will be significantly less active in Europe in the future).

Second, this tour sheds new light on the huge role that AI plays in today’s technology market.

Startups like OpenAI and Mistral continue to attract huge investments to build large language models, and it’s rare to find an organization today that isn’t evaluating how to use more AI in its business. But increasingly, information security teams are also aware of the problems that AI can pose.

Yes, AI is being used as a weapon by malicious hackers to compromise networks, and it helps cybersecurity companies (like Cyera itself) fight off bad actors and get better control of an organization’s data.

But inadvertently, they also play a different role: companies themselves, which interact with AI services such as chatbots or generative AI applications, are at risk of violating their own internal intellectual property and data protection policies. Cyera seeks to address the latter of these scenarios as well.

Right now, AI is a “huge driver” for Cyera’s business, one source said. But interestingly, the startup did not plan to build tools to determine how and where data is exposed and potentially misused in AI applications. In itself.

Its focus was initially more general – working with companies in sectors such as healthcare, technology, financial services, manufacturing, retail and travel, to provide tools for data classification, situation management (snapshots that help track how and where data moves), detection and analysis. Respond and reach judgment.

This work has, from what we understand, driven tens of millions of dollars off the startup’s current ARR value.

Recently, however, Cyera has noticed a shift in what its customers are asking to track, a source told us.

Many organizations are working to bring more automation into their networks, and the concern is that this will also make it harder to classify and vet sensitive data for use. “It’s all about whatever companies need to do to prepare for AI,” he said. “AI is a data problem.”