Guardio has raised $40 mn in a new funding round at a $1.1 bn valuation, giving the consumer cybersecurity company unicorn status. The financing included an investment from Wiz co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport.
Existing investors ION Crossover Partners, Union Tech Ventures and Vintage Investment Partners also participated. Cerca Partners and Emerge Ventures returned for the round as well.
Guardio develops cybersecurity software for consumers, with a focus on web browsing and online fraud. The company says more than 1 mn paying users currently use its products. Its platform combines a lightweight browser extension with other security tools. The software is designed to identify phishing attempts, malicious websites, identity theft and AI-generated scams in real time.
Guardio was founded in Tel Aviv in 2018 by Amos Peled, Daniel Sirota and Michael Vainshtein. The company initially focused on browser-based protection for everyday internet users.
In 2021, Guardio raised $47 mn in a Series A led by Emerge Ventures and ION Crossover Partners. That financing supported development of its web security and identity monitoring products.
The latest round comes as generative AI gives fraudsters cheaper tools for producing convincing social engineering campaigns. Guardio is focusing more heavily on threats aimed directly at users rather than malware targeting individual devices.
Scammers stopped hacking computers years ago – they hack people, and with AI, it’s cheap and easy. Many consumers now lose money through AI-generated scams even when traditional antivirus software detects nothing malicious on their devices.
Amos Peled, CEO and co-founder of Guardio
Guardio’s software monitors browsing activity for suspicious websites and phishing attempts. It also targets malicious downloads and identity-related threats alongside newer forms of AI-assisted social engineering.
Peled said consumer cybersecurity needs to focus more directly on protecting individuals rather than individual computers. The company plans to use the new financing to expand its products and reach a much larger consumer audience.
Guardio currently has more than 1 mn paying subscribers. The company said it intends to scale toward tens of millions of users as AI-generated fraud becomes more accessible to criminal groups.
The $40 mn round gives Guardio additional capital for product development and international growth. Its $1.1 bn valuation also places the company among a relatively small group of consumer cybersecurity startups to reach unicorn status.
