Backed by Wiz founders, Tel Aviv-founded startup emerges from stealth with $33m
Linx Security, founded by graduates of elite military intelligence unit 8200, has built a platform to help businesses manage and track identities across their digital assets
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.
Israeli-founded startup Linx Security came out of stealth on Monday armed with $33 million in funding to help protect businesses and organizations from identity-related cyber threats and security breaches
The startup has secured funding led by Cyberstarts, a venture capital fund founded by tech veteran Gili Raanan that invests in early-stage cybersecurity startups and in global venture capital firm Index Ventures. The financing round was joined by angel investors, including Wiz founders Assaf Rappaport and Yinon Costica, entrepreneurs Mickey Boodaei and Rakesh Loonkar, as well as Cerca Partners and Knollwood Investment Advisory.
Israel Duanis, CEO, and Niv Goldenberg, CPO, who first met more than 20 years ago serving together in the renowned Talpiot program of the Israeli elite military intelligence unit 8200, in a group with Wiz’s Rappaport and Costica, founded Linx Security in the first half of 2023.
Both Israel and Niv, like many 8200 graduates have turned out cybersecurity executives. Before founding Linx, Israel co-founded Fleetonomy, an AI-driven fleet management solutions platform, which was acquired by Via in 2020 and led the threat prevention line of business at CheckPoint Software. Goldenberg’s last role before co-founding the startup was VP Product at Boodaei’s Transmit and before that he worked at Adallom and Microsoft with the Wiz founders.
“We are operating within the identity space, and we are answering a simple question that has such a big complexity behind it: who should have access to what at your company?” Duanis said in an interview with The Times of Israel. “When you have a lot of employees, that is a lot of identities and a lot of assets that they are accessing, it becomes very complex to map out all of these links.”
“That is the origin of the name [Linx], we map the links between identities, assets, and the company, with the use of a platform that addresses identity management and security as a whole ensuring businesses stay ahead of evolving threats and regulatory requirements,” he added.
Linx’s is coming out of stealth as identity-based cyberattacks are rising, boosting the need for enterprises and organizations to protect the identity information of their employees, vendors, partners, and customers across fast-growing, complex digital landscapes. About 84% of organizations fell victim to an identity-related breach over the past year, which they said directly impacted their business, up from 68% in 2023, according to the 2024 Trends in Securing Digital Identities report.
“Identity has become the biggest attack sector and one of the urgent cybersecurity pain points organizations struggle to address in today’s fast-paced business environment,” said Duanis.
Linx, which has 25 employees out of which 23 are based at the startup’s R&D center in Tel Aviv, says its technology, is geared to eliminate the “blind spots and gaps inherent in traditional identity tools” that have been built a decade ago.
The platform that the startup developed at its R&D office in Tel Aviv maps and monitors the links between users, their identities, and the access and permissions they have to company data and resources. It uses advanced AI-powered analytics and automation to help businesses and organizations shrink their attack surface, achieve compliance, and streamline operations.
In one case, Linx said its platform detected ungoverned credentials which was tracked to a former employee’s unsecured access and could be exploited by malicious actors.
“Linx Security represents a pivotal advancement in identity security solutions, poised to redefine how organizations safeguard their digital assets,” said Index Ventures Partner Shardul Shah. “With a visionary leadership team and innovative technology, they are well-positioned to lead the industry in mitigating evolving cyber threats.”
Commenting on the timing of the startup coming out in the open when Israel is at war with the Hamas terror group for almost 10 months, Duanis believes that it exemplifies the resilience of the country’s tech industry, which accounts for some 20 percent of the economy’s output.
“Operating a company within wartime has its challenges, and even though it was tough, we were still able to meet our timelines,” said Duanis. “The way we work, is to think about a marathon, while we care a lot about the wellbeing of our employees by being there for them like a family in our day-to-day, but even more so during wartime.”
“We were very supportive to make sure that we can continue supporting our customers and create the business continuity that pushed a lot of companies in Israel not just us to the edge, but it all makes us better as companies and societies are measured in extreme times,” he remarked.
