Israeli startups raised at least $872 million in October, led by cybersecurity and AI - CTech

The total includes the full value of Upwind's expanded $400 million financing, which the cloud-security company officially announced in October. The round was initially reported in September. The figure for October excludes an undisclosed amount raised by the Israeli AI startup Two Delta, which secured tens of millions of dollars in seed funding.

The month's largest announcements came from two established companies. Upwind expanded its funding to $400 million at a valuation of $3.8 billion, while fintech company Capitolis raised $220 million at a valuation of $1.9 billion. Together, the two transactions accounted for $620 million of the disclosed round value.

Upwind's expanded financing reflects the rapid growth of a cloud-security company whose valuation has more than doubled since January. Capitolis, meanwhile, attracted backing from a group of major financial institutions, including Citi, Bank of America, Nomura, Tradeweb, J.P. Morgan and UBS. The company is expanding into securities lending through its acquisition of eSecLending, adding to its existing financial-technology business.

A substantial share of the month's activity was concentrated in AI and cybersecurity, including companies working on the infrastructure and safeguards needed as businesses adopt increasingly autonomous systems.

Securing the AI era

Rein Security raised $25 million in a Series A round as companies grapple with the challenge of controlling AI agents that can execute tasks across business systems. The startup said its revenue had grown eightfold since January and that its platform was securing thousands of agents carrying out millions of actions.

Another cybersecurity startup, Mave, raised $28 million in a Series A round led by Red Dot Capital Partners, bringing its total funding to $34 million. Mave is developing AI tools that investigate security alerts across existing systems without requiring companies to centralize their data.

Modelyo raised $17 million to address another concern surrounding enterprise AI: the exposure of sensitive information while it is processed in the cloud. Its technology is aimed at organizations such as governments, banks and defense companies, where data protection requirements can limit the use of external AI services.

Pluto Security, founded in 2025 by veterans of Palo Alto Networks, emerged from stealth with $42 million in funding. The company focuses on securing AI tools and applications built or adopted by employees, an area of growing concern as workers increasingly use AI software outside formal IT approval processes. Pluto said it had secured more than one million endpoints, signed over 40 enterprise customers and was already generating millions of dollars in recurring revenue.

AI in specialized applications

Israeli AI startup Two Delta attracted seed investment from prominent international backers Bill Ackman and Eric Schmidt. The company, which raised tens of millions of dollars, is developing technology to accelerate AI models. Its research also examines why AI coding agents can struggle to keep applications functioning as users add new features.

Other AI-related announcements reflected the technology's spread into more specialized business applications. Zenzap raised $33 million in a Series A round to bring AI agents into workplace communications. The company said customers had already created more than 40,000 automated workflows through its platform, which connects team conversations with workplace tools.

Bites raised $40 million in a Series A round to turn company procedures into short training videos for frontline workers. The videos are distributed through familiar channels such as WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams. The company plans to expand in the United States and develop technology that links employee training to business outcomes.

On the marketing side, enso, founded by RapidAPI co-founder Mickey Haslavsky, raised $15 million. The company, which has now raised $23 million in total, is developing what it calls 'Agentic Growth Hacking'.

Beyond software

October's funding activity also included companies applying technology to agriculture, medicine and physical operations.

BloomX raised $13 million in a Series A round to expand its robotics- and AI-based pollination systems. The company focuses on crops including blueberries and avocados, and says growers using its technology have recorded average yield increases of about 20%. The new financing brings its total funding to $20 million and will support expansion in the United States and additional Latin American markets.

In biotechnology, Undecimal Bio raised $18 million in seed funding to address a delivery challenge in RNA-based medicines. The company, a spinout from Eleven Therapeutics, is developing an AI-enabled platform designed to deliver gene-silencing treatments to specific cells beyond the liver, where RNA medicines have had their greatest success.

Phantom GI raised $5 million to develop a device intended to create an ostomy under local anesthesia. The approach could offer an alternative for patients with bowel obstructions who cannot undergo conventional surgery.

High Lander, an Israeli drone-software company, secured an additional $16 million through an expanded strategic investment by UAE defense group EDGE. The financing brings High Lander's total funding to $30 million. The company, which develops software for drone fleet management and air traffic coordination, is extending its technology into defense and homeland security applications.