Israeli cybersecurity startup Torq has entered the global unicorn club after closing a fresh funding round that values the company at $1.2 billion. The company is set to announce that it has raised $140 million in new capital, reflecting strong investor confidence in the fast-growing AI-powered cybersecurity automation space. This funding round positions Torq among the most valuable private cybersecurity firms emerging from Israel’s vibrant tech ecosystem.
Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Torq develops an autonomous security operations platform designed to transform how enterprises handle cyber threats. Modern organizations face an overwhelming number of security alerts every day. Traditionally, human analysts manually review these alerts, a process that is time-consuming and costly. Torq’s platform uses artificial intelligence agents to automatically handle repetitive and high-volume security tasks such as sorting alerts and responding to routine incidents. This automation allows human security teams to focus only on the most complex and high-risk threats, improving efficiency and reducing response times.
The company’s CEO and co-founder Ofer Smadari explained the core philosophy behind Torq’s product: security professionals should not waste time on basic alerts when AI can manage them. By shifting repetitive workloads to intelligent automation, Torq aims to strengthen enterprise cyber defenses while optimizing security team productivity.
Torq was founded in January 2020, just before the global COVID-19 pandemic. While the company initially launched before the rise of mainstream generative AI, its strategic direction evolved significantly after the AI boom. By late 2022, following the rapid public adoption of tools like ChatGPT, Torq identified a major opportunity in building AI-driven security agents. The company introduced its first AI agent in summer 2023, marking a turning point in its platform’s evolution from basic automation toward full AI-based detection and remediation of security threats.
Today, Torq employs over 300 people across Israel and the United States, reflecting its rapid growth and expanding international presence. The founding team is not new to cybersecurity entrepreneurship. Before Torq, the leadership team launched Luminate Security in 2017, which was later acquired by Symantec for approximately $250 million within two years. This successful exit laid the foundation for Torq’s next venture, bringing strong experience in building and scaling security technology companies.
The latest funding round was led by Merlin Ventures, with participation from several well-known technology investors including Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Venture Partners, and Greenfield Partners. The strong lineup of investors signals growing market belief that AI-powered security operations platforms will become essential as cyber threats increase in complexity and volume.
Torq’s rise highlights a broader trend in the cybersecurity industry. Enterprises worldwide are struggling with alert fatigue, talent shortages, and increasing attack surfaces. Solutions that combine AI automation, security orchestration, and autonomous incident response are becoming critical tools for modern security teams. Torq’s technology directly addresses this need by reducing manual workloads and accelerating threat response.
With a valuation now crossing the $1 billion unicorn threshold, Torq joins a new generation of cybersecurity firms built specifically for the AI era. Its journey from a startup founded just before a global pandemic to a billion-dollar AI security company demonstrates how rapidly innovation is reshaping the cyber defense landscape.
As cyber risks grow and organizations seek smarter defense tools, Torq’s AI-driven security automation platform places it at the center of the future of cybersecurity operations.