Italian Cybersecurity Firm Exein Becomes a Unicorn with $270 Million Raise

European startup Exein has achieved unicorn status, raising $270 million in a funding round led by Headline. The Rome-based company, which focuses on cybersecurity for physical AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), is now valued at $1.7 billion.

Gianni Cuozzo, Exein’s CEO, described the company’s core philosophy as ensuring that every connected device can defend itself, regardless of its network connectivity. This strategy has driven the development of Photon, a runtime security solution designed to prevent kernel-level attacks on devices.

Since its founding in 2018, Exein has prioritized close collaboration with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and silicon vendors, betting on the proliferation of connected devices. Cuozzo stated that this approach has generated significant momentum, with the company now claiming to have secured more than two billion devices across critical sectors including aerospace, industrial automation, automotive manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and semiconductors.

The startup anticipates that the rise of physical AI will further sustain its growth. Cuozzo noted that Exein’s technology covers a wide range of edge-computing applications, including AI-powered robots, drones, self-driving cars, sensors, and smart appliances.

Investor confidence appears strong, as the latest round was significantly oversubscribed. Exein’s valuation has increased thirty-fold since its Series B funding two years ago and more than doubled since it secured equity and debt in December 2025. That previous raise followed a Series C round announced earlier in the year.

Cuozzo also highlighted that AI is simultaneously enhancing the capabilities of attackers. He pointed to the ease with which open-source models can be deployed without guardrails, making it simpler and cheaper to target physical devices in novel ways. Exein has already observed an increase in what Cuozzo termed “machine-speed attacks.”

To counter these evolving threats, the company is training a foundational model specifically for Physical AI security. This model, currently being trained on machine data and telemetrics, is expected to be ready by the first quarter of 2027.

In the interim, Exein plans to utilize the new capital for mergers and acquisitions to broaden its product portfolio and to hire staff for accelerated expansion in the United States and Asia Pacific. These regions currently account for half of the company’s revenue.

Despite the challenges of operating across three continents, Cuozzo reported that the company is experiencing 400% year-over-year growth. He also suggested that the European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act, which became fully enforceable in December 2027 and mandates that digital products be safe from cyber threats, could provide additional tailwinds for the company.