Italian startup Exein has raised $270 million in a round led by Headline, bringing its valuation to $1.7 billion and joining the ranks of European companies valued at more than $1 billion. The company is building a cybersecurity layer for connected devices, with an increasing focus on what it calls “physical AI” that operates inside robots, drones, autonomous vehicles, sensors, and more.
Exein was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Rome. According to CEO and founder Gianni Cuozzo, the company’s philosophy is based on enabling every device to defend itself, whether or not it is connected to a secure network. The company says it has secured more than 2 billion connected devices across sectors including aerospace, industrial automation, automotive manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and semiconductors.
From IoT Security to AI-Powered Devices
Exein initially focused on securing Internet of Things devices, but it is now expanding its scope to include devices that run AI models at the edge. This includes robots, drones, autonomous vehicles, and smart home devices—categories that rely on supply chains and connected components similar to those found in IoT devices.
The company’s latest product is Photon, an in-runtime protection solution designed to prevent attacks at the device-kernel level. This approach requires direct collaboration with manufacturers and chip suppliers, a relationship Exein says it has built since its founding.
Funding for Expansion and a New Security Model
Exein said the round was significantly oversubscribed. The company’s valuation is now approximately 30 times its valuation following its Series B round two years ago, and it has more than doubled since it secured equity and debt financing in December 2025, following a Series C round that closed the previous year.
The company plans to use the new funding to pursue acquisitions aimed at completing its product portfolio, as well as to hire more employees and accelerate its expansion in the United States and the Asia-Pacific region, which currently accounts for half of its revenue, according to Cuozzo.
Exein is also training a foundation model for physical AI security using machine data and operational measurements, and plans to have it ready in the first quarter of 2027. The project is connected to what Cuozzo described as an increase in “machine-speed attacks,” which he believes open-source AI models are making easier and less expensive to execute.
Why Does This News Matter?
The round demonstrates that device security is no longer limited to protecting networks or traditional software; devices that make decisions or run models at the edge may need built-in defense mechanisms, particularly when they are part of industrial environments, vehicles, or sensitive infrastructure. The European Cyber Resilience Act could also provide Exein with an additional opportunity, as its related reporting obligations began a week before the article was published, while the law is set to take full effect in December 2027 and requires manufacturers to ensure that digital products are protected from cyber threats.
Nevertheless, the figures for secured devices and 400% annual revenue growth are based on company statements, while maintaining this rate remains a challenge. The article also did not specify details of the upcoming acquisitions or the nature of the planned security model, meaning the funding’s ultimate impact will depend on Exein’s ability to turn these plans into products that can be deployed at scale.