Palo Alto Networks founder Nir Zuk unveils new cybersecurity startup Cylake with $45 million in Seed funding
Zuk founded the company with Wilson Xu, a longtime Palo Alto Networks engineering leader, and Ehud (Udi) Shamir, co-founder of SentinelOne. The startup is developing an AI-driven security platform designed for organizations that cannot rely on public cloud infrastructure.
Cybersecurity entrepreneur Nir Zuk has unveiled his new startup, Cylake, which has raised $45 million in a funding round led by Greylock, alongside other experienced technology investors.
The company is developing a comprehensive, AI-based cybersecurity platform built on a data-driven architecture. Unlike many modern security platforms, Cylake’s system is designed to operate without reliance on the public cloud, allowing organizations to maintain full sovereignty over their data and operations.
Cylake was founded by Nir Zuk, Wilson Xu, and Ehud (Udi) Shamir. Zuk founded Palo Alto Networks in 2005 and served as the company’s CTO for more than two decades before announcing his departure last August. Wilson Xu helped build Palo Alto Networks for over a decade, including leading the engineering team. Udi Shamir co-founded SentinelOne in 2013.
Cylake’s approach is built around two central principles.
The first is that the next generation of AI-powered cybersecurity requires a holistic architecture, one that provides full visibility across all organizational data and infrastructure layers, combined with a unified security platform. Fragmentation, whether from incomplete data visibility or the use of multiple disconnected security tools, creates vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.
The second principle focuses on data sovereignty. Some of the world’s largest and most regulated organizations cannot rely on public cloud-based security solutions due to regulatory, operational, or national security constraints.
Cylake argues that the requirement for complete control over data and systems should not prevent organizations from accessing the most advanced cybersecurity capabilities. As a result, its platform is designed to run entirely on-premises or within a private cloud environment, enabling organizations to deploy advanced AI-driven security while maintaining strict control over sensitive information.
“Cybersecurity is constantly evolving, and sometimes new challenges demand completely new approaches,” said Nir Zuk, Founder and CEO of Cylake. “Cylake is for institutions where maintaining full control over data and operations is not optional.”
Cylake plans to collaborate with a select group of design partners as it develops the platform, with product availability anticipated in early 2027.
“The next generation of cybersecurity will be AI-native, agentic, and built on holistic data and context,” said Asheem Chandna, Partner at Greylock Partners. “Cylake is focused on a segment of the market where security must operate under full control to meet regulatory and operational reality.”
