Cylake Raises $290 Million to Build a Security Platform That Never Touches the Public Cloud
A new cybersecurity startup backed by the founder of Palo Alto Networks has pulled in hundreds of millions of dollars to serve banks, hospitals, and government agencies that cannot put their data on shared internet infrastructure.
Key points
- Cylake, a cybersecurity startup, raised $290 million in funding as of 2025.
- The company was founded by Nir Zuk, who also co-founded Palo Alto Networks, one of the world's largest cybersecurity firms.
- Cylake's platform is designed for heavily regulated industries, such as banking and healthcare, that are not permitted to store sensitive data on public cloud services.
- The company was preparing to launch a beta, meaning an early test version, of its platform at the time of the raise.
- SecurityWeek originally reported the funding figure as $245 million; the confirmed total is $290 million.
Cylake has raised $290 million to build what it calls an AI-native security platform, a system that uses artificial intelligence to spot and block digital threats, built specifically for organisations that are legally or contractually barred from using public cloud services.
Public cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, are shared computing networks run over the internet by large technology companies. Most businesses use them freely. A hospital handling patient records, a bank processing transactions, or a government contractor working with classified material often cannot: regulations require that data to stay inside tightly controlled, private systems. That gap is what Cylake is targeting.
Who is behind this, and why does it matter?
Nir Zuk co-founded Palo Alto Networks, one of the biggest names in commercial cybersecurity. His involvement gives Cylake real credibility before its product has even launched publicly. Founding teams with that kind of track record attract serious money, and $290 million before a wide release is a substantial vote of confidence. It's worth comparing to the AI security funding wave we've tracked this quarter: Team8 closed $365 million on 13 August to back AI-native security companies, and Corma raised $60 million on 11 August on a similar pitch about purpose-built security models.
The raise also fills a real gap. Security vendors typically build for the broadest customer base, which means public-cloud-first architectures. Regulated industries then spend considerable effort bending those tools to environments they weren't designed for.
What does this mean for ordinary people?
If your hospital or bank eventually uses Cylake's platform, the intended effect is straightforward: better security around the systems holding your financial and medical records. You wouldn't interact with the software directly.
A fundraising announcement isn't a finished product, though. The company's still in beta, meaning real-world testing hasn't concluded. Whether the platform delivers is a question defenders in regulated sectors will be watching over the coming months.
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Startup | Cylake |
| Founder | Nir Zuk (co-founder of Palo Alto Networks) |
| Funding raised | $290 million |
| Product status at raise | Beta (early testing phase) |
| Primary customers | Heavily regulated industries (banking, healthcare, government) |
| Key differentiator | No reliance on public cloud infrastructure |
No vulnerability or breach sits at the centre of this story. The significance is structural: serious private capital is flowing into a corner of the security market that public-cloud-centric vendors have largely ignored.
Whether $290 million is enough to build a credible alternative to established players is the question Cylake will have to answer in production, not in a press release.
