Last Updated: 15 September 2026
Exein, a cybersecurity company focused on connected machines and Physical AI systems, has raised new capital as it expands its security technology and international operations. The company was founded by CEO Gianni Cuozzo and develops software designed to protect systems while they are running, including robots, vehicles and industrial equipment.
The security problem is growing as artificial intelligence moves into machines that can sense their surroundings, make decisions and take physical action. That changes the risk involved. The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 found that 26% of respondents expected autonomous systems and robotics to affect cybersecurity this year, while experts warned that decisions made by machines can reduce detection and response times to seconds.
Exein has raised $270 million at a valuation of $1.7 billion. Headline led the round, with Sofina, Goldman Sachs, European Investment Bank Group ETCI, KfW Capital and T.Capital also participating. Previous investors Balderton, HV Capital, Intrepid Growth Partners, 33N Ventures, Lakestar, Supernova Invest, Blue Cloud Ventures and Geodesic Capital joined the financing as well.
Physical AI describes systems that use artificial intelligence to perceive their surroundings, make decisions and act in the physical world. Robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and industrial machines can all fall into this category. The consequences can be physical. A successful attack may affect how a machine behaves while it is operating, with possible implications for safety or normal operations.
The World Economic Forum has warned that cyber failures can become physical failures as AI becomes part of machines and infrastructure. Exein is now seeing around 5,000 new, nonrepetitive attacks across its network each week, five times the number recorded a year ago. AI is also allowing attacks that once required specialist human knowledge to be carried out at machine speed.
“As AI moves into robots, vehicles, and critical infrastructure, securing the physical world will become one of the defining cybersecurity challenges of the next decade. Exein's deep expertise in embedded systems and unique machine data give it a powerful advantage as it scales globally, and that advantage traces back to the team. […] We're honoured to help them build a global leader in Physical AI security.”
Clarey Zhu, Partner at Headline
The new funding will support Exein’s expansion in the United States and Asia Pacific. Around 50% of its revenue already comes from Asia Pacific, and the company currently operates across Europe, Asia Pacific and the United States. The US is a major focus. Over the next two years, Exein plans to increase hiring, customers and partnerships there, while also aiming to open an office in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Exein also plans to continue looking at mergers and acquisitions as it expands its technology platform and international presence. Since its previous funding round in December 2025, the company has established its Asia Pacific headquarters in Taiwan and secured new partnerships in semiconductors, industrial computing and connected infrastructure.
Product development is another part of the plan. Exein has spent two years developing a proprietary foundation model for Physical AI security, trained on machine telemetry collected through its technology across more than two billion devices. In simple terms, the model learns from data about how machines operate. The company plans to introduce its agentic security architecture by the end of 2026, followed by its first foundation models in the first quarter of 2027.
Exein was founded in 2018 by Gianni Cuozzo and is headquartered in Rome. Its technology is used in industrial automation, automotive, energy, healthcare, semiconductors, aerospace and robotics. Its reach is already large. Exein’s security technology is distributed across more than two billion connected devices.
The company focuses on runtime security, which means protecting software while it is operating. Earlier in 2026, Exein launched Photon, a preemptive runtime security architecture that works at kernel level and is designed to block malicious execution before an attack can run. The technology is intended for connected devices, Physical AI systems, autonomous AI agents, and cloud and edge infrastructure.
“AI is moving out of the cloud and into the physical world, and this is the transition Exein was built for. We’ve developed deep expertise in how machines operate, invested heavily in the technology needed to protect them and built a global footprint that gives us an understanding of machines at a scale few others can match. […] Physical AI is the natural next step for Exein: we’re building machine-time security for machine-time attacks.”
Gianni Cuozzo, founder and CEO of Exein
Headline led the latest financing, joined by several institutional investors. The venture capital firm manages more than $5 billion in assets and invests through regional early stage funds covering the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America, along with a global growth strategy. Sofina, Goldman Sachs, European Investment Bank Group ETCI, KfW Capital and T.Capital also participated in the round.
Exein has raised capital several times over the past two years. The company raised €15 million in a Series B in July 2024, followed by a €70 million Series C in July 2025 led by Balderton. In December 2025, it announced another €100 million funding round led by Blue Cloud Ventures, taking its total fundraising for that year to €170 million.
The latest financing values Exein at $1.7 billion. Its valuation has increased thirtyfold in two years, while annual recurring revenue in the first half of 2026 was four times higher than a year earlier. At its current valuation, Exein is Europe’s most valuable cybersecurity startup.
