Exein, a cybersecurity firm focused on the hardware layer of connected devices and a long-time embedded partner of Italian AI, has closed a new €100 million funding round. This follows its €70 million Series C round in July 2025, bringing total capital raised in 2025 to €170 million. The latest financing was led by Blue Cloud Ventures, with participation from HV Capital, Intrepid Growth Partners, Geodesic Capital and J.P. Morgan.
Equity and Debt Signal Institutional Confidence
The €100 million package combines an equity investment with a financing facility led by J.P. Morgan, highlighting growing institutional confidence in Exein’s business model and the expanding market for device-level cybersecurity. While the company did not disclose its updated valuation, it confirmed a significant increase in valuation in the five months between the July Series C and this extension.
Shifting Security to the Device Level
Exein embeds cybersecurity directly into the firmware of connected and IoT devices, rather than relying primarily on traditional perimeter-based defences such as firewalls and network monitoring. This approach is gaining traction as cyberattacks increasingly target physical infrastructure, with incidents disrupting hospitals, airports, transport systems and industrial supply chains.
Embedded AI-Powered Runtime Protection
As connected devices proliferate across critical sectors, manufacturers and regulators are placing greater emphasis on built-in, device-level security. Exein’s platform integrates AI-enabled runtime security into firmware, allowing devices to detect, block and respond to threats automatically, even in environments with limited or intermittent connectivity.
Regulatory Compliance and Supply Chain Integrity
According to Exein, its embedded, hardware-agnostic approach enables continuous integrity checks, behavioural monitoring and provenance verification across complex supply chains. It also supports compliance with emerging regulatory frameworks, including Europe’s RED 3.3 directive, the forthcoming EU Cyber Resilience Act and the US Cyber Trust Mark.
Protecting Over 1.5 Billion Devices
The company says its technology currently protects more than 1.5 billion devices worldwide across sectors such as energy, healthcare, defence, automotive, aerospace, industrial automation, semiconductors and robotics. Exein expects the number of devices running its software to exceed two billion by the first quarter of 2026, driven by new deployments and regulatory pressure.
Securing On-Device AI and LLMs
The new funding will be used to accelerate development of Exein’s next generation of embedded runtime security technology, with a strong focus on securing on-device AI and large language models. As AI capabilities increasingly move to edge devices, protecting models from tampering, data leakage and adversarial attacks has become a critical challenge.
Building a “Digital Immune System”
Gianni Cuozzo, founder and CEO of Exein, said the company is building a “digital immune system” for the connected world. He added that the first wave of this innovation will be unveiled at RSAC in Q1, with an initial release of AI-focused security capabilities expected at RSAC 2026.
M&A and Global Expansion Plans
Beyond product development, Exein plans to use the new capital to pursue an active M&A strategy in 2026, with multiple transactions planned across Europe and the US. The company is also accelerating international expansion, with a particular focus on scaling in the US and APAC markets.
Embedded Security as a New Foundation
Exein’s rapid fundraising momentum reflects a broader shift in the cybersecurity market, as protection moves closer to the hardware and firmware layers of connected systems. As regulators and manufacturers confront the real-world impact of cyberattacks on physical infrastructure, embedded security platforms like Exein’s are emerging as a foundational layer for the next generation of connected devices.