Italian cybersecurity startup Exein raises $270M to secure the physical AI era

Italian cybersecurity startup Exein has raised $270 million in a funding round led by Headline at a $1.7 billion valuation, making it Europe's newest unicorn. The company provides a cybersecurity layer for physical AI, building on its original focus on IoT.

Its latest product, Photon, is a runtime security solution that prevents attacks at the kernel level of a device. Exein says its technology already protects more than 2 billion connected devices across aerospace, industrial automation, automotive manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and semiconductors. The Rome-based company has worked directly with OEMs and silicon vendors since its founding in 2018.

CEO Gianni Cuozzo said growth will be sustained by the rise of physical AI, with coverage for AI-powered robots, drones, self-driving cars, sensors, smart appliances, and other connected devices running models on the edge. He also warned that AI is strengthening attackers' capabilities, as open source models running without guardrails make it easier and cheaper to target physical devices in new ways. Exein has seen an increase in what he calls “machine-speed attacks” and is developing a foundational model for physical AI security, trained on machine data and telemetry, with readiness planned for the first quarter of 2027.

The round was significantly oversubscribed. Exein's valuation has increased thirty-fold since its Series B in 2024 and more than doubled since it secured equity and debt in December 2025. The company plans to use the fresh capital for M&A to complete its product portfolio and to hire staff to accelerate expansion in the U.S. and Asia Pacific, which currently drives half of its revenue. Exein says it is growing 400% year on year.

The European Union's Cyber Resilience Act, whose reporting obligations took effect in September 2026, will come into full force in December 2027, requiring manufacturers to ensure that all digital products are safe from cyber threats.