CyberRidge, a cybersecurity firm pioneering a new class of photonic encryption technology, has raised $26m in total funding as it emerges from stealth.
The investment includes a $10m seed round led by Canadian-Israeli investment firm Awz, followed by an additional $16m extension from Arkin Capital, Redseed VC, Elron Ventures, and the EU Horizon-EIC programme.
CyberRidge has developed technology designed to protect against a growing but often overlooked threat: the interception and long-term storage of global data transmitted through optical fibre. Today, more than 95% of the world’s digital communication—including banking records, AI workloads, and government data—travels through these cables, many of which remain exposed to “cable tapping” attacks. The rise of quantum computing has further heightened these risks, as it could render even the most advanced encryption methods obsolete.
The company’s flagship innovation is a photonic transmission system that makes sensitive data effectively “disappear” in transit. The plug-and-play solution integrates with existing fibre infrastructure and converts data into encrypted optical noise, preventing it from being recorded, intercepted, or analysed. Only a proprietary photonic key, which changes every fraction of a second and must align with the light signal, can reconstruct the information. Without it, the data becomes permanently unrecoverable.
CyberRidge plans to use the new funding to accelerate deployment of its technology among telecommunications providers, defence and intelligence agencies, and critical infrastructure operators. Early-stage rollouts are already underway in Europe, Singapore, and Australia, including a project with Israel’s military intelligence unit.
As the cybersecurity industry braces for the post-quantum era, most efforts focus on mathematical solutions such as post-quantum cryptography (PQC) or physics-based approaches like quantum key distribution (QKD). CyberRidge presents an alternative: a real-time photonic system that prevents data harvesting altogether. Unlike PQC, it is not dependent on mathematical assumptions, and unlike QKD, it safeguards the entire data payload—not just the key—within public fibre infrastructure.
CyberRidge founder and CEO Professor Dan Sadot said, “We’ve spent decades building taller walls and stronger vaults to protect data, but what if we could make the vault itself disappear? Encryption assumes your data will be stolen and tries to slow attackers down. We’re taking a fundamentally different approach: eliminate the ability to record the data in the first place. If no raw data exists, there’s nothing to hack, today or years from now, no matter how powerful the computer.”
Awz CEO Yaron Ashkenazi said, “As quantum decryption advances, truly secure solutions are increasingly rare. In a world racing toward quantum threats, CyberRidge’s photonic-layer encryption stands apart: turning data into unrecordable optical noise and eliminating the possibility of interception. We’re proud to back this groundbreaking shift in secure communication.”
Elron Ventures CEO Yaniv Shnieder said, “We’re proud to back CyberRidge, developing breakthrough deep tech solutions with a unique technological edge and strong growth potential. The founding team brings outstanding vision and execution, and we look forward to contributing our deep technological expertise and network of professionals to help accelerate the company’s development.”
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