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Cyera co-founder and CEO Yotam Segev says AI is driving massive growth in data security and is changing the cybersecurity sector even faster than the cloud did.

The big picture: AI is the main driver behind cybersecurity's strong funding numbers.

Driving the news: Cyera raised a $540 million Series E in June that valued the company at $6 billion  — making it one of the most valuable private cybersecurity companies.

Lightspeed Venture Partners, Georgian and Greenoaks led the Series E.

The New York-based cyber firm raised a $300 million Series C late last year led by Coatue at a $1.4 billion valuation.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Axios: How has AI affected cybersecurity?

Segev: "I believe that it's a bigger revolution than the one we've seen in the cloud. It's definitely faster. 

In the early days of cloud, you'd ask a big enterprise if they're going to be in the cloud, they tell you, 'hell no.' With AI, nobody's telling you 'no.' Everybody understands that they're going to be using AI. 

I like to joke that our business had legs before AI, but with AI, it got wings."

Can you talk about those wings? How fast is Cyera growing?

"What's pretty unique about Cyera is the growth rate. We've been able to maintain 400% a year over year growth for a couple of years now and that is pretty extraordinary. 

And we're going into a third year of enormous growth, hundreds of percent, and that is a very, very unique differentiator in the market."

Is that why you decided to raise such a large round in June after just raising in November?

"I think many of our investors saw the tremendous momentum in the business and preemptively offered.

"In the past quarter, we've seen the IPO market warming up, becoming much more attractive and relevant for companies like us. We're not there today, but we're definitely putting our sights on having the optionality to IPO.

What milestones do you think are important to hit before you get to that point?

"I think today, a lot of what is being described as the milestones for an IPO is at least $300 million ARR and a path to profitability. It doesn't have to be profitable at the time of IPO, but the public markets want to see a path to a profitable company."

Why have we not seen more cybersecurity companies IPO? What's it about cyber that keeps companies private?

"Cyber is an extremely competitive business, maybe even more so than other enterprise software spaces, and it's very, very challenging to maintain the growth.

It's also extremely challenging for companies to maintain and sustain differentiation over time. At Cyera, we're investing in our engineering and product. We've grown our engineering head count by 2.8x this year. We have to continue to invest in our product and engineering relentlessly, because otherwise others will eat our cake."

You have already made acquisitions, including two in June. Do you guys remain acquisitive?

"I think we look for great opportunities. It can be a great opportunity to acquire products. They can be great opportunities to buy technology. They can be great opportunities to acquire people and teams."

Cyera's Yotam Segev on the rise of data security and dealmaking

Cyera raised a Series E in June at a $6 billion valuation.

Photo illustration of Yotam Segev next to a pattern of Cyera logos. 

Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Cyera

Cyera co-founder and CEO Yotam Segev says AI is driving massive growth in data security and is changing the cybersecurity sector even faster than the cloud did.The big picture: AI is the main driver behind cybersecurity&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="strong funding numbers" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/enterprise-software-deals/2025/06/30/cybersecurity-venture-funding-second-quarter-bounceback" data-vars-content-id="5f14a345-8790-4c85-93e9-8a02fd78fa87" data-vars-headline="Cyera&#x27;s Yotam Segev on the rise of data security and dealmaking" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/enterprise-software-deals/2025/06/30/cybersecurity-venture-funding-second-quarter-bounceback" target="_self">strong funding numbers</a>.

Cyera's Yotam Segev on the rise of data security and dealmaking

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