Sam Altman Invests In Israeli AI Cybersecurity Startup Apex: Report

Israeli startup Apex said it has secured an investment from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The company, which specialises in developing security solutions for AI applications, has raised a total of USD 7 million in a seed funding round. 

This round was led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures, with additional participation from Altman among others, according to a Reuters report.

Apex, co-founded by Matan Derman and Tomer Avni ten months ago, aims to address the novel challenges posed by the rapid integration of AI tools in various sectors. Both founders bring a strong cybersecurity background, having served in the Israeli military’s 8200 intelligence unit. This expertise is pivotal as the company seeks to innovate in a field that has largely focused on traditional prevention and access blocking techniques until now.

“Apex was founded with the mission of empowering security and AI teams to enable the secure and swift AI adoption within world-class organisations,” said Matan Derman, Co-Founder and CEO at Apex. 

The startup’s mission is particularly relevant as businesses increasingly adopt AI technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which necessitates robust mechanisms to protect data and ensure privacy and compliance. Apex is reportedly in the late stages of finalising paid contracts following successful trials with several Fortune 500 companies and investment firms. The new funding is earmarked for accelerating product development, expanding the team and enhancing marketing efforts.