Cyata, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup focused on managing AI agent identities, has emerged from stealth after securing $8.5m in seed funding.
Founded by experienced security professionals from organisations such as Unit 8200, Check Point and Cellebrite, the company is targeting one of the newest risks facing enterprise IT teams: autonomous AI agents operating without sufficient oversight, according to InsurTech Insights.
The seed round was led by Israeli VC TLV Partners and joined by a group of notable angel investors, including former Cellebrite CEOs Ron Serber and Yossi Carmil. TLV Partners pointed to both the urgency of the security challenge and the strength of Cyata’s team as key reasons behind the investment.
As enterprises rapidly adopt AI agents to support tasks like coding, data access, and automated decision-making, many of these tools function beyond the scope of traditional identity and access management (IAM) systems. Unlike human users, AI agents can be deployed instantly, scaled in parallel, and act independently—raising major concerns for CISOs and security teams. Cyata is stepping in to provide much-needed identity-level control over these digital actors.
Its platform is designed to provide robust visibility and governance over AI agents, such as copilots, autonomous task handlers, and chatbots. Features include real-time discovery of agent activity, detailed audit trails that capture their reasoning processes, and dynamic access control that can include optional human intervention for sensitive operations. Crucially, Cyata maps each agent to a human owner to ensure traceability and accountability across enterprise systems.
The newly acquired funds will support Cyata’s product development and go-to-market expansion as it aims to become a foundational layer of cybersecurity in AI-driven enterprise environments. As companies race to integrate generative AI and autonomous systems into daily workflows, Cyata is positioning itself as a critical infrastructure provider for identity-based security.
The founding team is led by CEO Shahar Tal, a veteran of Check Point’s malware and vulnerability research division and former senior executive at Cellebrite. He is joined by VP R&D Dror Roth and CTO Baruch Weizman, both of whom bring deep technical experience from elite military intelligence units and leading cybersecurity firms. Of Cyata’s 12 staff, 60% of the leadership previously worked at Cellebrite, reinforcing the company’s strong roots in digital forensics and security.
“AI agents represent the biggest leap in enterprise technology since the cloud – a self-scaling, sleepless workforce that codes, analyzes, and executes in seconds,” Cyata CEO Shahar Tal said. “We focus on the actors, not the LLMs – because agents, not models, are the ones making decisions and triggering risk. Cyata gives security teams identity-grade controls built specifically for AI agents, so they can unlock their power – without losing control.”
TLV Partners partner Brian Sack said, “Agent adoption is accelerating rapidly, and what we’re seeing today will be tenfold by next year – in both usage and risk. Cyata’s team has already reshaped the digital forensics space, and they’re now applying that same deep expertise to secure the emerging AI agent ecosystem.”
Robert Burns, CSO at Thales Cybersecurity Products, added, “AI agents introduce a new layer of complexity. Their ability to act autonomously, scale rapidly, and interact across systems challenges existing models in new ways. Cyata’s focused work in this space highlights risks that many organizations haven’t yet fully surfaced.”
The $8.5m seed round marks Cyata’s first publicly announced funding.
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