Israeli Cyber Startup Torq Hits $1.2bn Valuation After $140m Raise to Scale AI Security Platform

Quadri Adejumo
By
Quadri Adejumo
Senior Journalist and Analyst
Quadri Adejumo is a senior journalist and analyst at Techparley, where he leads coverage on innovation, startups, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and policy developments shaping Africa’s...
- Senior Journalist and Analyst
6 Min Read

Israeli cybersecurity startup, Torq, has raised $140 million at a $1.2 billion valuation, marking its entry into the unicorn club as demand surges for artificial intelligence-driven security operations across global enterprises.

The Tel Aviv-based company said the new funding will be used to accelerate adoption of its AI-powered Security Operations Centre (SOC) platform and expand more aggressively into the United States market.

The round was led by Merlin Ventures, with participation from Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Insight Partners.

Founded in 2020 by Ofer Smadari, Leonid Belkind, and Eldad Livni, Torq has now raised a total of $332 million, reflecting rapidly growing investor confidence in the role AI is playing in reshaping enterprise cybersecurity.

What You Need to Know 

Torq initially launched as a security automation company but pivoted decisively following the emergence of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in late 2022. By mid-2023, the company had introduced its first AI security agent, repositioning itself at the centre of the fast-growing “agentic AI” movement within enterprise security.

Torq’s platform deploys AI agents that operate like digital security analysts, capable of investigating threats, collecting evidence, correlating signals across systems, and even remediating issues autonomously, escalating only the most complex cases to human experts.

This approach directly addresses one of the cybersecurity industry’s most persistent challenges: the overwhelming volume of security alerts generated daily, which often exceeds the capacity of human teams to process effectively.

According to the company, organisations using Torq are now achieving 90–95% autonomous alert handling, allowing security teams to shift focus from manual triage to strategic threat analysis.

“This funding accelerates our mission to define and dominate the AI SOC market, ” said Ofer Smadari, CEO & Co-Founder, Torq.

Enterprise Adoption Drives Rapid Growth

Torq’s customer base includes major multinational corporations across sectors including travel, manufacturing, logistics, and consumer goods. Clients include Marriott, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Uber, and Virgin Atlantic, among others.

This enterprise traction is translating into significant financial momentum. Torq reported approximately 300% revenue growth over the past year and has expanded its workforce to more than 350 employees across offices in New York, Tel Aviv, Japan, Germany, Amsterdam, and London.

The company plans to hire an additional 200 employees in 2026, signalling expectations of sustained demand and further global expansion.

Investor Confidence in AI-Led Cybersecurity

The $140 million raise follows a rapid sequence of funding rounds, including $42 million in January 2024 and $70 million in September 2024, underscoring how quickly both market demand and investor confidence have grown.

According to analysts, Torq’s ascent reflects a broader shift in enterprise cybersecurity, where AI is increasingly viewed not merely as a support tool but as a core operational layer for managing digital risk at scale.

As organisations face growing attack surfaces, more complex infrastructure, and an escalating volume of threats, platforms that can automate response without sacrificing accuracy are becoming mission-critical.

With fresh capital, an expanding global footprint, and deepening enterprise adoption, industry leaders say Torq is positioning itself as one of the leading players defining the future of autonomous cybersecurity operations.

Talking Points

It is impressive that Torq is using AI agents to autonomously investigate, correlate, and respond to security threats, directly addressing one of cybersecurity’s biggest challenges, the overwhelming volume of alerts facing enterprise security teams.

This capability alone positions Torq as a practical solution to a very real operational problem, especially for large organisations that struggle to scale security operations fast enough to match growing digital complexity and threat exposure.

At Techparley, we see how platforms like Torq can fundamentally reshape how enterprises manage risk, shifting cybersecurity from a reactive, labour-intensive function into a proactive, intelligent, and scalable system.

By embedding AI directly into Security Operations Centres, Torq enables companies to achieve 24/7 monitoring and response without the traditional limitations of human capacity, improving both speed and consistency in threat handling.

As Torq scales globally, we see an opportunity for the company to work more closely with regulators, standards bodies, and enterprise partners to accelerate adoption and embed agentic security as a trusted layer of modern digital infrastructure. With the right balance of innovation and accountability, Torq has the potential to become a defining platform in the future of enterprise cybersecurity.

——————-

Bookmark Techparley.com for the most insightful technology news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @Techparleynews, on Facebook at Techparley Africa, on LinkedIn at Techparley Africa, or on Instagram at Techparleynews.

Senior Journalist and Analyst
Follow:
Quadri Adejumo is a senior journalist and analyst at Techparley, where he leads coverage on innovation, startups, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and policy developments shaping Africa’s tech ecosystem and beyond. With years of experience in investigative reporting, feature writing, critical insights, and editorial leadership, Quadri breaks down complex issues into clear, compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences, making him a trusted voice in the industry.
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Techparley Africa

Stay ahead of the curve. While millions of people still have to search the internet for the latest tech stories, industry insights and expert analysis; you can simply get them delivered to your inbox.


Please ignore this message if you have already subscribed.

×