ROME--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Exein, the Physical AI cybersecurity company, today announced $270 million in new funding at a $1.7 billion valuation, making it the most valuable cybersecurity startup in Europe. The funding will accelerate Exein’s US and APAC expansion and drive further impacts in Physical AI security: protecting intelligent machines that use AI to perceive, make decisions and act in the physical world, from robots and drones to autonomous vehicles. Exein is also developing a proprietary foundation model specifically to secure these systems.
The round is led by Headline, with participation from Sofina, Goldman Sachs, European Investment Bank Group ETCI, KfW Capital and T.Capital, with involvement from previous investors Balderton, HV, Intrepid Growth Partners, 33N Ventures, Lakestar, Supernova Invest, Blue Cloud Ventures and Geodesic Capital. The round was significantly oversubscribed.
This is alongside an upsizing of Exein’s existing revolving credit facility led by J.P. Morgan, while KfW joins as an additional lender.
Exein’s valuation has increased thirty-fold in two years, reflecting a period of rapid commercial and international growth. The company's H1 2026 ARR was up 4x year-on-year.
Built for Physical AI
As AI moves into machines that perceive, make decisions and act in the physical world, a new security challenge is emerging. Exein has been building for this transition for years, combining deep expertise in embedded and runtime security with technology that operates where code actually runs. Earlier this year, the company launched Photon, its preemptive runtime security architecture, which operates at kernel level to block malicious execution before an attack can run, an approach particularly suited to autonomous machines where security must respond at machine speed.
Exein is now combining this runtime expertise with its machine data advantage to develop a proprietary foundation model designed specifically for Physical AI security. In development for two years, the model is being trained on machine telemetry generated through Exein technology distributed across more than two billion devices. Unlike general-purpose AI models trained largely on human-generated data, Exein’s model learns from data showing how machines actually operate, a dataset built through years of real-world machine activity that would be difficult for competitors to replicate.
The model will power autonomous security agents capable of understanding and protecting the systems on which they operate at machine speed, without waiting for human intervention. Exein plans to introduce its new agentic security architecture by the end of 2026, with its first foundation models expected in Q1 2027.
The development comes as AI transforms the cyber threat, allowing attacks that previously required highly specialised human expertise to be executed at machine speed. Exein is now seeing around 5,000 new, non-repetitive attacks across its network each week, five times the level recorded a year ago.
Accelerating global expansion
Exein is already a global business, with around 50% of its revenue coming from Asia-Pacific and operations spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States. The funding will further accelerate its expansion in key markets, including the US and APAC, as investment in robotics, autonomous systems and Physical AI grows. Over the next two years, Exein plans to increase US hiring, customers and partnerships, while also aiming to open a new office in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company will continue to pursue M&A opportunities as it expands its technology platform and global footprint.
Since its previous funding round in December 2025, Exein has established its APAC headquarters in Taiwan and secured new partnerships across semiconductors, industrial computing and connected infrastructure.
Gianni Cuozzo, founder and CEO of Exein, said: “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. Frontier models are pushing the patch window to zero. Attacks now happen at machine speed, so defense has to as well. Physical AI is the natural next step for Exein: we’re building machine-time security for machine-time attacks.”
Clarey Zhu, Partner at Headline, said: "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. Gianni and his team have incredible technical and commercial depth, they put customer trust above all else, and they have always chosen the harder, long-term-oriented path. We're honoured to help them build a global leader in Physical AI security."
About Exein
Exein is a leading physical AI cybersecurity company headquartered in Rome, Italy, with operations across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States. Its AI-powered technology is distributed across more than two billion connected devices in sectors including industrial automation, automotive, energy, healthcare, semiconductors, aerospace and robotics. Through Photon, Exein delivers preemptive runtime security for connected devices, Physical AI, autonomous AI agents and cloud and edge infrastructure. The company is building the global standard for runtime cybersecurity and the digital immune system for connected life. exein.io
About Headline
Headline is a venture capital firm that partners with exceptional technology teams with global ambitions. The firm manages more than $5 billion in assets and invests through regionally focused early-stage funds across the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, as well as Headline Growth, which invests worldwide from Series B to the public market. Headline is headquartered in San Francisco and has eight global offices. Learn more at headline.com
