In today’s enterprises, data is not just a critical asset—it’s the lifeblood of an organization, underpinning every dimension of a business from daily operations to strategic decision-making. Yet, as data becomes more integral, its footprint and complexity is skyrocketing. Enterprises are creating, storing and sharing more data across an ever-expanding array of platforms, driving unprecedented growth in data volume and cardinality.

While there’s no debate that data brings tangible value to an organization, the explosion of data comes with significant risks. In the last decade, data has become a prime attack vector for threat actors looking to exploit vulnerabilities in storage systems, weak access controls, shadow data and improper data management practices. The stakes have never been higher. It’s no wonder that according to Forrester, 74% of security leaders reported at least one data breach in the past year, with the average cost of a breach approaching $5 million and growing 10%+ annually. High-profile incidents such as Capital One’s 2019 breach (exposing 100 million records), Target’s 2013 breach (compromising 40 million payment card numbers) and T-Mobile’s 2021 breach (affecting 77 million customers) are just a few standout attacks that serve as painful reminders of the challenges organizations face when it comes to cybersecurity.

Cyera delivers a state-of-the-art data security platform that empowers organizations to discover, classify, protect and monitor sensitive data across their entire data ecosystem. With advanced visibility and fine-grained control, Cyera is redefining how enterprises safeguard their data ecosystem against vulnerabilities and breaches. That’s why today, we’re proud to share that Sapphire Ventures is co-leading Cyera’s $300M Series D financing round, a pivotal step forward in advancing the future of data security.

An Unprecedented Demand for Data Security Fueled by Powerful Tailwinds

We are at the confluence of a couple of transformative shifts that are reshaping the data security landscape. First and foremost, we’re still in the middle of the multi-decade transition from on-premise-based computing to the cloud. This transition has fundamentally altered how data is stored, accessed and secured. In cloud environments, data is no longer a centralized resource, but instead, highly distributed and dispersed across complex and often ephemeral ecosystems. This decentralization poses significant challenges, as legacy security solutions–designed for static, on-premise architectures–struggle to deliver adequate protection. A single misconfiguration can expose sensitive data, including PII, to malicious actors, underscoring the need for modern, cloud-native solutions like Cyera.

Second, as GenAI becomes increasingly prevalent in the workforce, it introduces a new set of data security challenges. Already, 57% of security leaders cite generative AI misuse as a top threat for data breaches. Key risks include the accidental collection of PII via chatbots, internal born threats from employees inputting sensitive data into AI systems, vulnerabilities within AI tools themselves and the list goes on. And while GenAI represents only a relatively small portion of the security landscape today, its rapid uptake has also become a meaningful accelerant for Cyera’s momentum.

Revolutionizing How Organizations Manage and Protect Their Data

Enter Cyera. Founded in 2021, Cyera is an AI-powered data security platform revolutionizing how organizations manage and protect their increasingly complex data landscapes. Purpose-built for today’s dynamic environments, Cyera’s platform is quick-to-deploy, cloud-native, agentless and highly integratable, offering flexibility to support cloud, hybrid and on-premise architectures. With advanced AI at its foundation, Cyera seamlessly discovers and inventories an organization’s entire data ecosystem, classifies sensitive information with precision, enforces compliance through automated policy management and streamlines remediation with actionable insights. 

With the introduction of its identity module and data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities this year, Cyera is expanding its platform to provide robust data protection. Just last month, Cyera further bolstered its product suite, acquiring Trail Security, a next-generation DLP vendor. This strategic move further enhances Cyera’s long-standing ability to not only identify and manage access to sensitive data, but to also actively prevent mishandling and unauthorized exfiltration of data, reinforcing its commitment to delivering a holistic approach to modern data security.

A Visionary Team At The Top of Their Game

We believe co-founders Yotam Segev (CEO) and Tamar Bar-Ilan (CTO) bring unparalleled expertise from their distinguished careers. Serving in Israel’s elite cyber intelligence unit (Unit 8200), Yotam and Tamar both hail from the prestigious Talpiot Program, a highly selective initiative that develops top leaders at the intersection of defense, technology and innovation. Over many conversations, it became abundantly clear that Yotam and Tamar are forces of nature, seamlessly combining customer obsession with relentless execution to bring their product vision to life.

At Sapphire Ventures, we are proud to partner with transformative cybersecurity companies including Auth0, Sumo Logic, Huntress, Netskope, JumpCloud, Exabeam, JupiterOne and more. Having worked alongside world-class teams addressing critical security challenges, we are thrilled to join forces with the Cyera team on their mission to empower organizations to secure and manage their data effectively in today’s complex digital landscape.