Dor Sarig and Ziv Karliner founded Pillar Security in 2023. See the $9M seed led by Shield Capital, what the AI security platform does and where it fits.
Dor Sarig and Ziv Karliner founded Pillar Security in October 2023 to secure AI-built software, and the Tel Aviv company raised a $9 million seed round in April 2025, led by Shield Capital, Calcalist reported. Sarig is CEO and Karliner is CTO. Olam found no public report of a later funding round.
Who are the Pillar Security founders at a glance?
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Pillar Security, founded October 2023 | Calcalist |
| CEO | Dor Sarig, previously in cybersecurity roles including the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel | HackerNoon |
| CTO | Ziv Karliner, from Israeli intelligence and IBM | HackerNoon |
| Funding | $9 million seed, April 2025 | Calcalist |
| Lead investor | Shield Capital, with Golden Ventures, Ground Up Ventures and angels | Calcalist |
| Bases | Tel Aviv and Miami | Refresh Miami |
What does Pillar Security do?
Pillar builds a platform that maps all AI-related assets in an organization, from models and datasets to prompts, notebooks and frameworks, and then secures applications from development through production, according to the Times of Israel. SecurityWeek reports that it provides controls across the AI lifecycle and deploys guardrails tailored to each application's risk profile, aimed at problems such as evasion attacks, data poisoning and intellectual property leakage.
A third-party company profile says Pillar was named a representative vendor in Gartner's 2026 Market Guide for Guardian Agents, which covers software that supervises other AI agents. Olam has not confirmed that listing with Gartner.
Who backed the seed round?
Shield Capital led the $9 million seed round, with Golden Ventures, Ground Up Ventures and strategic angels, including Elias Manousos, a former Microsoft corporate vice president and former RiskIQ CEO, per HackerNoon. The company said it would use the money to expand research and development and go-to-market efforts. The Times of Israel reported that the funding was meant to triple its workforce.
Where does Pillar sit among Israeli AI security startups?
This section is Olam's analysis. Pillar works at the application layer, while Cyera works on data security and Lasso Security on runtime protection for language models. The open question is whether AI application security stays a standalone category or gets absorbed by larger security platforms. For the wider founder cohort, see Israeli founders and companies.
Pillar Security FAQ
Who founded Pillar Security?
Dor Sarig and Ziv Karliner founded Pillar Security in October 2023, according to Calcalist.
How much has Pillar Security raised?
$9 million in seed funding in April 2025, led by Shield Capital, according to Calcalist. Olam found no public report of a later round.
Where is Pillar Security based?
Tel Aviv and Miami, according to Refresh Miami.
What does Pillar Security sell?
A platform that discovers AI assets in an organization and secures AI applications from development to production, according to the Times of Israel.
How we report: Olam stories draw on public filings, company disclosures and named sources, checked by our editors. Read our methodology · Corrections
