Astrix Security: The Non-Human Identity Platform Cisco Bought for AI Agent Security
Astrix Security: Tel Aviv non-human identity platform founded 2021 by Alon Jackson and Idan Gour, both Unit 8200 veterans. Raised $85M including the Menlo-Anthropic Anthology Fund Series B. Acquired by Cisco in May 2026, estimated at $300-400M.
Astrix Security was a Tel Aviv-founded non-human identity security platform built to govern the API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens, and AI agent credentials that move through modern enterprise systems. Founded 2021 by Alon Jackson (CEO) and Idan Gour (CTO), both Unit 8200 veterans. Jackson previously led cybersecurity research for Israeli Military Intelligence. Raised $85 million across seed, Series A, and Series B — Menlo Ventures' Anthology Fund (the Menlo-Anthropic strategic vehicle), Workday Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, F2 Venture Capital. Acquired by Cisco in May 2026, estimated at $300–400 million.
By The Olam Editorial Team · The Builders · June 2026
Astrix Security's category
Non-human identities — NHIs — are the API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens, and machine credentials that move data between applications without a human pressing a button. The enterprise environment runs on roughly ten thousand app-to-app connections for every thousand employees. NHIs outnumber human identities inside most large organizations by two orders of magnitude. Until recently they were the least-governed identity class in enterprise security.
AI agents pushed that asymmetry into crisis. An AI agent acting autonomously inside an enterprise system is, technically, a non-human identity holding credentials and acting on those credentials at machine speed. The volume of NHIs jumped. The behavioral predictability dropped. Astrix's platform was built to give security teams agentless visibility into every NHI, automatically detect over-privileged or anomalous access, and remediate before NHI misuse turned into a breach.
The category position was reinforced by Gartner, which named Astrix a Cool Vendor in Identity-First Security in 2024 and a 2024 RSA Innovation Sandbox finalist. Astrix also made the Fortune 2026 Cyber 60 list and the SINET16 Innovator 2024 cohort. The recognition stack matters because it functioned as a signal to acquirers about category position before Cisco moved.
Astrix Security's founders
Alon Jackson served as the head of cybersecurity research for Israeli Military Intelligence — a posting at the operational center of the IDF's cyber work. Idan Gour also came out of Unit 8200. The two co-founded Astrix in Tel Aviv in 2021 with a focus on NHI security before the category had a name. Gartner did not formally identify NHI security as a Cool Vendor category until 2024. Astrix had already raised its Series A.
Jackson's view on category timing was explicit. He told industry press in 2024 that in cybersecurity, the winner takes it all — and when a category is emerging, the value of doubling down outweighs the value of waiting. That logic drove Astrix to raise the $45 million Series B in December 2024 even though the company had cash for another year of runway. The strategic frame: the gap to competition is a window, not a moat. Press it while it's open.
Astrix Security's funding and growth
Series A — $25 million led by CRV in June 2023, with Bessemer, F2, Venrock, and Kmehin Ventures. Total at the time: $40 million. Series B — $45 million led by Menlo Ventures through the Anthology Fund in December 2024, with Workday Ventures, CRV, Bessemer, and F2. Total funding: $85 million.
The Anthology Fund itself is a $100 million Menlo-Anthropic vehicle launched in 2024 to back AI-native infrastructure companies. Astrix was one of its first cybersecurity investments. Rama Sekhar, Partner at Menlo Ventures, said publicly at the Series B that Astrix "exemplifies the type of transformative company the Anthology Fund was created to support."
Customers at the time of the Series B: Figma, NetApp, Priceline, Workday, plus a Fortune 500 base. ARR was $5 million heading into 2025, with stated growth targets to $100 million. Headcount: roughly 80 at Series B, scaling toward 160. By the time of the Cisco acquisition in May 2026, Astrix employed approximately 120 people.
Astrix Security's exit to Cisco
Cisco announced the acquisition in May 2026. Hebrew media reports estimated the deal at $300 million to $400 million. The Information had reported in April 2026 that the talks were valued at $250–350 million; the closed price came in at or above the top of that range.
Astrix integrated into Cisco's broader security platform — specifically Cisco Identity Intelligence and the Zero Trust application suite that includes Duo and Secure Access. The strategic logic Peter Bailey, Cisco's SVP and GM of Security, articulated publicly: Cisco's existing network and infrastructure visibility could combine with Astrix's NHI graph to give enterprises a unified view of what every agent is, what it does, and how to detect when its behavior shifts. The output feeds into Splunk for detection and response.
The Anthropic angle mattered. Menlo's Anthology Fund had been built specifically to back AI-native companies that complemented Anthropic's enterprise roadmap. Astrix securing non-human identities aligned directly with Claude's emergence as a primary enterprise AI agent platform. Jackson described the relationship publicly as enterprises needing a secure way to use Anthropic agents, and Astrix as the company building that layer.
Astrix Security in the Israeli LLM-security cohort
Astrix was the largest exit by transaction value in the cohort of five Israeli LLM-security companies founded between 2021 and 2023 — Aim Security, Apex Security, Astrix Security, Prompt Security, Lasso Security. Four are now acquired. Astrix to Cisco. Aim to Cato. Prompt to SentinelOne. Apex to Tenable. Lasso, backed at the board level by former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, remains independent as of June 2026.
The strategic pattern Astrix represents is the one that will likely repeat at the next layer of the AI security stack: U.S. networking and identity infrastructure giants need to extend into AI-agent governance, they cannot build it organically fast enough, and Israeli founders coming out of Unit 8200 are the supply. Cisco's first major AI-agent security acquisition was Israeli. The next one will likely be too. The Olam Index 2026 measures the visibility gap that remains — even after the largest cohort exit, Astrix's name still does not surface in AI engines' responses to questions about leading AI agent security platforms.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Astrix Security?
Astrix was founded in 2021 by Alon Jackson (CEO) and Idan Gour (CTO). Both are Unit 8200 veterans. Jackson previously led cybersecurity research for Israeli Military Intelligence.
How much did Cisco pay for Astrix?
The Cisco-Astrix deal closed in May 2026 at an estimated $300–400 million. Cisco did not officially disclose the price.
What does Astrix Security do?
Astrix provides non-human identity security — visibility into and control over API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens, and AI agent credentials.
How much did Astrix raise?
Astrix raised $85 million across three rounds: a seed, a $25 million Series A led by CRV in June 2023, and a $45 million Series B led by Menlo Ventures through the Anthology Fund in December 2024.
What is the Anthology Fund?
The Anthology Fund is a $100 million vehicle launched in 2024 by Menlo Ventures in strategic partnership with Anthropic, designed to back AI-native infrastructure companies.
