You Won't Believe What $51.5 Million in Funding Means for Your Cybersecurity Future!

Novee, a promising startup in the realm of cybersecurity, has recently emerged from stealth mode, announcing a significant funding round of $51.5 million. The investment was spearheaded by YL Ventures, Canaan Partners, and Zeev Ventures, marking an impressive feat for a company that was only founded in May 2025. This rapid funding trajectory underscores the rising urgency surrounding cybersecurity solutions, particularly those that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster defensive measures against escalating threats.

Novee's innovative platform utilizes AI to replicate the tactics employed by real-world hackers, providing organizations with a continuous penetration testing environment. By identifying advanced vulnerabilities, particularly complex business logic flaws, Novee’s system allows for automated retesting to ensure that critical risks are effectively managed. As cyber threats grow increasingly sophisticated, companies are realizing the need for proactive rather than reactive measures. “Attackers don’t wait for your annual pentest, and neither should your defense,” said Ido Geffen, co-founder and CEO of Novee. “Novee has already helped organizations uncover hundreds of these novel vulnerabilities and fix them continuously, closing gaps before attackers exploit them.”

What sets Novee apart from its competitors is its proprietary AI system, which has been specifically trained on offensive security data and techniques. The company asserts that its AI model outperformed leading large language models, including Gemini 2.5 Pro and Claude 4 Sonnet, by over 55% in web exploitation tasks, achieving an impressive 90% accuracy. This specialized focus on offensive security distinguishes Novee from platforms that rely on more generic AI models.

Industry experts back this assertion, with Tal Shapira, CTO at Reco AI, noting that “penetration testing is an adversarial, environment-driven problem. Purpose-trained models will consistently outperform general-purpose language models in this domain.” This insight highlights the critical importance of tailored solutions in cybersecurity, where the stakes are incredibly high.

Novee's early customers, including enterprise software firm Cresta, have lauded the platform’s capability to identify complex vulnerabilities that traditional scanners often miss. “We needed testing that could identify more complex vulnerabilities, like server-side request forgery, which scanners just aren’t capable of detecting,” stated Robert Kugler, Cresta’s head of security. “Novee filled that gap.”

Founded by Geffen, Gon Chalamish (Chief Product Officer), and Omer Ninburg (Chief Technology Officer), Novee benefits from a team that possesses deep expertise in both AI and offensive cybersecurity, having served in elite cyber units within the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). This military background lends the company a nuanced understanding of both offensive strategies and defensive measures, enabling it to develop solutions that are not only theoretically sound but practically effective.

Yoav Leitersdorf, managing partner at YL Ventures, emphasized the team’s qualifications, stating, “Novee is built by a team that has spent decades operating at the highest levels of offensive cyber and critical infrastructure defense. They understand how real attackers think because they have done this work themselves, at scale and under real-world constraints. What they are building reflects a deep understanding of how AI is reshaping the balance between attack and defense.”

The emergence of Novee highlights a significant trend in cybersecurity: the shift towards continuous security solutions rather than periodic assessments. As AI technology continues to evolve, so too does the nature of cyberattacks. Novee appears well-positioned to become a key player in this fast-paced industry, spearheading innovations that address the urgent need for robust cybersecurity solutions. The implications for businesses and organizations are profound, as the landscape of cybersecurity is rapidly changing, necessitating more proactive and sophisticated defenses against the ever-evolving threat of cybercrime.