Sofina, Goldman Sachs, BEI/ETCI, KfW Capital, and T.Capital also invested in the company which also received further credit facilities from JP Morgan and KfW
Rome-based embedded cybersecurity firm Exein, a scaleup that Gianni Cuozzo (ceo), Gerardo Gagliardo (cfo) an Giovanni Alberto Falcione (cto) founded in 2018, attracted 270 million US Dollars on the ground of a 1.7 billion US Dollars enterprise value (30X the 55 million euros figure of 2024) and joined the unicorns club. JP Morgan extended the revolving credit facility that previously granted to Exein which also attracted the debt resources of KfW.
Such proceeds will now primarily fund the company’s new technological leap, as it shifts its focus from embedded cybersecurity to the security of so-called Physical AI – that is, robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and other machines capable of using artificial intelligence to perceive their environment, make decisions and act directly within the physical world.
Exein already launched Photon, a runtime security technology that operates directly at the kernel level and aims to block an attack before it can be executed. The next step will be a proprietary foundation model that received the training for telemetry from the more than two billion devices on which the company’s technology is deployed. Exein aims to create autonomous security agents capable of identifying and countering threats without human intervention. The new architecture could be effective by the end of 2026, whilst the schedules for the first foundation models is 1Q27.
Furthermore, over the next two years, Exein intends to expand its workforce, customer base and partnerships in the United States and aims to open a new office in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company already established a legal entity in Japan, where operational expansion may start from 4Q26, while a new office in South Korea may open by 2027.
Exein attracted the resources of lead investor Headline, Sofina, Goldman Sachs, the EIB – European Investment Bank’s European Tech Champions Initiative Co-investment Facility (a programme that the European Investment Fund – EIF structured), KfW Capital, and T.Capital – Deutsche Telekom. Balderton, HV Capital, Intrepid Growth Partners, 33N Ventures, Lakestar, Supernova Invest, Blue Cloud Ventures, and Geodesic Capital reinvested in the asset (press release).
Exein has been the first deal for ETCI Co-investment Facility (a limited partner of Headline Growth), a programme of EIB and five European Union Member States for supporting the growth of European technology scale-ups and reduce their dependence on capital from outside the continent (press release).
In July 2025, Cuozzo said to Reuters that the company was on prowl for buys in Europe and USA for reaching new users ahead of a listing between 2029 and 2030. In September 2025, Kontron announced the signing of a partnership with Exein (press release).
The company established its Asia-Pacific headquarter in Taiwan and will invest such undisclosed proceeds in its European and US m&a strategy as it announced in December 2025 after having secured a round of 100 million euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The firm attracted equity from Blue Cloud Ventures (lead investor), HV Capital, Intrepid Growth Partners, and Geodesic Capital while JP Morgan provided a revolving credit line. In July 2025, Exein secured a Series C round of 70 million euros from Balderton, Supernova Invest, Lakestar and follow-on investors 33N, United Ventures and Partech (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
In 2018, United Ventures poured 2 million euros in Exein (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Future Industry Ventures and eCAPITAL Entrepreneurial Partners co-led a 2021 Series A round of 6 million that United Ventures joined (see here a previous post by BeBeez). In 2024, Exein attracted 15 million euros from 33N, Partech, United Ventures, eCAPITAL, and Future Industry Ventures (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
Cuozzo said: “AI is moving out of the cloud and into the physical world, and Exein was born to operate precisely this transition. We developed an in-depth expertise in how machines operate, invested significantly in the technology needed to protect them, and built a global presence that gives us a level of insight that is hard to match. The most advanced models are drastically reducing the time taken to fix vulnerabilities; attacks are now automated and instantaneous, and defences must keep pace. Physical AI is the natural next step for Exein: we are building security that moves at the speed of machines, because that is the speed at which the threat moves today.”
Clarey Zhu, a partner of Headline, added: “As AI is integrated into robots, vehicles and critical infrastructure, the security of the physical world will become one of the cybersecurity challenges that will define the next decade. Exein’s in-depth expertise in embedded systems and its unique wealth of machine-generated data provide a significant advantage for global growth – an advantage that stems from the team. Gianni and his team combine exceptional technical and commercial expertise, put customer trust above all else and have always chosen the more challenging, long-term path. We are honoured to help them build a global leader in Physical AI security.”
Maxence Tombeur, managing director of Sofina, concluded: “Physical AI has brought intelligence and real-time decision-making capabilities to machinery, vehicles, medical devices and robots: this is why safety must be integrated ever more closely with the machine itself. Gianni had the foresight to prepare for this transition years ahead of the market, and we are delighted to support him and his team in Exein’s global expansion.”
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