Cyber startup Onyx Security raises $35 million to control AI agents in organizations
The Israeli startup develops a platform to secure and manage AI systems as they become integral to business operations.
Israeli cyber company Onyx Security, which develops a security and control platform for AI agents in enterprises, has raised $35 million in a Series A funding round led by Conviction, an AI-native venture capital firm founded in 2022 by Sarah Guo, a former General Partner at Greylock. The company’s total funding now stands at $40 million, including a $5 million Seed round from CyberStarts in 2024 and contributions from leading angels in the cyber and AI sectors.
Founded in 2024 by Maxim Bar Kogan and Gil Elbaz. Bar Kogan is a cyber security leader and experienced technology executive who served in Unit 8200 of the IDF. Elbaz is a veteran AI researcher, previously reporting to the CTO of Nvidia, and a former member of one of the IDF's AI research units.
The company currently employs more than 70 people across Israel, the U.S., and Canada.
"I want to make sure that AI agents are not too independent. Most companies focus only on security, which is significant for us, but in addition, we define what AI is allowed to do and what it is not,” Bar Kogan told Calcalist. “This helps the organization understand the return on its AI investment. If I am the CEO of an organization today, I want to show progress in AI. One of the painful problems has been that investments were visible, but returns were less so. Today, this is changing. In areas like code and customer interactions, we already see measurable returns."
Regarding Onyx’s expansion, Kogan added: "We have a sales team in the United States, and I will be moving there soon. We are investing heavily in R&D and significantly increasing our team. There is a huge opportunity in our field, attracting many companies to innovate. Our goal is to address the problem at the CEO level and deliver tangible value."
In recent years, AI agents have become integral to organizations’ operational infrastructure. They are being deployed across software development, IT automation, customer service, and other business processes. Unlike traditional software, AI agents operate dynamically, making real-time decisions based on external data and changing contexts, a new layer of risk that existing security systems struggle to manage.
Onyx is developing a platform that provides both control and security for AI agents within organizations. The system continuously detects AI assets, defines usage policies, and enforces them in real time, allowing AI deployment to scale safely. Central to the platform is the Onyx Guardian Agent, a mechanism that identifies abnormal activity, can block dangerous actions, reduce permissions, or require human approval before executing a task.
“The shift of organizations toward a world in which AI systems become part of their operational infrastructure creates an entirely new attack surface,” said Hila Zigman, Partner at Cyberstarts. “These are not just software tools to be protected - they are systems that make decisions, access sensitive information, and are integrated into critical business processes. From the very first moment, it was clear to us that Maxim and Gil understand the depth of this change and are building a solution designed for the AI era, rather than trying to adapt legacy tools to a new reality. We believe the Onyx team is exceptionally well-positioned to become a market leader in AI security for large enterprises.”
