Top cyber luminaries bet on Gadi Evron and Sounil Yu’s latest AI security venture following impressive sweep at Black Hat and RSA startup competitions

HERNDON, Va., March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Knostic, the world’s first provider of need-to-know access controls for Generative AI, today celebrates an $11 million investment to secure enterprise large language models (LLMs). The funding will be used to bolster Knostic’s offering, supporting enterprises in their AI transformation and adding a customizable safety layer to tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and Glean. This additional round brings the company’s total funding to date to $14 million.

“The problem is that these tools just can’t keep a secret, lacking the ability to discern what’s appropriate, in what context — think bonuses, sales revenue, mergers and acquisition information and more,” said Gadi Evron, co-founder and CEO of Knostic. “Businesses can’t adopt these tools without Knostic and we’re grateful our investors recognize this.”

This funding round was led by Bright Pixel Capital with follow-on investments from new and previous investors such as Silicon Valley CISO Investments (SVCI), DNX Ventures, Seedcamp, and angel investors Kevin Mahaffey (founder of Lookout), and Gerhard Eschelbeck (former CISO of Google) among others.

“In this era of rapid digital transformation, it’s rare to find a board that isn’t asking about AI, yet attempts to keep LLMs in check have failed time and time again,” said Fernando Martins, Director of Cybersecurity at Bright Pixel Capital. “Enterprises who want to use LLMs for their benefit need Knostic to lock down information – it’s that simple. We’re energized by the major demand Gadi and his team are already seeing, and we’re eager to support them as their customer base expands even further.”

“At SVCI, the CISO members devote considerable time and effort to evaluating specific segments of the cybersecurity market before deciding to partner and invest in a company. While the intersection of AI and security is broad, access control remains one of the most significant risks. As companies accelerate AI adoption at the board level, Knostic’s need-to-know technology plays a crucial role in facilitating this transformation. As a result, we, at SVCI chose to back Knostic,” said Shaun Marion, CISO at Xcel Energy, previously with McDonald’s, and one of the CISO investors in SVCI.

Knostic serves as a safety net for LLM tools, earning recognition at the industry’s top tradeshows. Shortly after its market debut, the company was named as a Launch Pad winner at the 2024 RSA Conference and the 2024 Black Hat Startup Spotlight Competition, the only startup to ever be nominated and win both.

“Unlike traditional access controls, which limit our options to just allowing or denying access, need-to-know policies enable LLM answers that can be reshaped to fit within the user’s own business context,” explained Sounil Yu, co-founder and CTO of Knostic. “Need-to-know boundaries allow enterprises to accelerate their AI adoption without compromising security.”

“LLM oversharing is a huge problem that enterprises really need to pay attention to,” shared Adm. Mike Rogers (Ret.), Knostic advisory board member and former NSA Director. “In a world of heightened awareness around data privacy (and thus negative repercussions for disregarding it), Knostic’s technology is crucial for enterprises looking to avoid reputational, legal and financial harm as AI becomes a strategic imperative.”

To learn more about how Knostic is transforming the way businesses use AI, please visit: https://www.knostic.ai/.

About Knostic
Knostic was founded in 2023 by veteran cybersecurity experts and innovators Gadi Evron (serial entrepreneur, previously from Citibank and PwC) and Sounil Yu (former Chief Security Scientist at Bank of America), with the goal of ensuring the safe adoption of AI at enterprises at scale. Knostic is the world’s first provider of need-to-know based access controls for Large Language Models (LLMs). With knowledge-centric capabilities, Knostic enables organizations to accelerate the adoption of LLMs and drive AI-powered innovation without compromising value, security, or safety. For more details, visit https://www.knostic.ai/

About Bright Pixel Capital
Bright Pixel Capital is the technology investment arm of the multinational group Sonae. With special focus on cybersecurity, infrastructure software, retail technologies, business applications and emerging tech, it has a portfolio of more than 60 companies, from early to growth stages. Bright Pixel Capital acts as a partner that brings specialized know-how, global footprint, and a wealth of experience in helping companies from early stage to IPO. Find out more at brpx.com.

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