Daylight Security raised $80 million in a Series B round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives in November 2026 [Goldman Sachs Alternatives, November 2026]. The company, founded just the year before, has now pulled in a total of $120 million [Goldman Sachs Alternatives, November 2026]. That capital is backing a specific, high-stakes bet: that the future of managed detection and response (MDR) belongs to AI agents working alongside human analysts, not to armies of overworked security operators.
The AI-Native MDR Wedge
Daylight builds what it calls an AI-native MDR platform. The core proposition is automation at scale. The platform uses AI agents to handle the initial detection, investigation, and containment of cyber threats, escalating only complex or high-risk cases to human security experts [SecurityWeek, November 2026]. This model aims to deliver enterprise-grade security outcomes without requiring customers to exponentially scale their own security operations headcount.
CEO Hagai Shapira frames the company's thesis around the effectiveness of security operations becoming dependent on “how effectively AI agents can take on increasingly complex security work” [SiliconANGLE, November 2026]. The service is offered in flexible models, including fully managed, co-managed, or supported by forward-deployed engineers, giving enterprise buyers options for how deeply to integrate Daylight's team [SecurityWeek, November 2026].
The Team Behind the Bet
The founders, Hagai Shapira and Eldad Rudich, are veterans of the Israeli cybersecurity scene. They met while serving in Israel’s elite military intelligence Unit 8200 [Goldman Sachs Alternatives, November 2026]. Before Daylight, both were early leaders at cybersecurity automation company Torq, with Shapira as an early product leader and Rudich as its first employee and later vice president of R&D [Goldman Sachs Alternatives, November 2026]. This background in building security automation platforms provides a credible foundation for their current ambition.
The company reported having 80 employees as of November 2026, with 43 of them based in its Tel Aviv headquarters [Calcalist Tech, November 2026]. The Series B capital is earmarked for expanding the team and footprint in the U.S. and entering markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa [MLQ.ai, retrieved 2026].
Traction and Named Customers
Daylight's customer base illustrates its target market: a mix of fast-growing technology companies and established enterprises. Reported customers include password manager LastPass, collaboration platform Miro, fintech dLocal, AI startup Rogo, and development platform Lovable [Calcalist Tech, November 2026]. The company also counts unnamed Fortune 500 enterprises among its clients [gptonline.ai, retrieved 2026].
Product extensions show a focus on integration and developer experience. In mid-2026, Daylight launched an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. This allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code Copilot to pull security investigation context directly from Daylight's platform, a capability already in use by enterprise customer Miro [cybercompanyprofiles.com, retrieved 2026].
The Funding Stack and Investor Conviction
The velocity and size of Daylight's funding rounds signal strong investor belief in both the team and the category. The company moved from a seed round to a $33 million Series A in late 2025, led by Craft Ventures and joined by Bain Capital Ventures and a roster of Israeli cybersecurity founders [Business Insider, November 2025]. The recent $80 million Series B added Goldman Sachs Alternatives as lead, with continued participation from Craft and Bain, plus new checks from Okta Ventures and angels from companies like Wiz and Cyera [Goldman Sachs Alternatives, November 2026].
July 2025 Seed | 7 | M USD
November 2025 Series A | 33 | M USD
November 2026 Series B | 80 | M USD
The Competitive Calculus
The MDR and broader security operations market is crowded, but Daylight's differentiation rests on its AI-agent-first architecture and its founders' specific automation pedigree. The bet is that a platform built from the ground up for AI orchestration will outperform legacy tools retrofitted with automation features. The company's early partnerships, like the MCP server integration, aim to embed its capabilities into developers' existing workflows, creating a potential distribution advantage.
However, the model carries inherent execution risks. The technology must reliably distinguish between routine alerts and genuine high-risk incidents to avoid overwhelming human analysts or, worse, missing critical threats. Furthermore, scaling a global security operations center (SOC) with the promised blend of AI and human expertise is a complex operational challenge that goes beyond software.
- Technical reliability. The AI agents' accuracy in triage and investigation is the core product promise, yet unproven at massive scale.
- Operational scaling. Building and managing a hybrid AI-human SOC across multiple regions is a heavy lift, even with $120 million.
- Market education. Convincing cautious security chiefs to trust autonomous agents with critical detection and response duties requires demonstrable proof and time.
The company's answer, backed by its funding, is to invest aggressively in both engineering and its own security operations team to prove the model works before its competitors can effectively replicate it.
What Comes After $120 Million
With the Series B closed, the next twelve months will be about proving the model at scale. Key milestones will include significant headcount growth, particularly in the U.S., and landing additional flagship enterprise customers to validate the platform's effectiveness for the largest organizations. The expansion into EMEA markets will test the portability of its service delivery model.
The $80 million check from Goldman Sachs Alternatives and the continued support from Craft Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures set a high bar. The question for Shapira, Rudich, and their team of 80 is whether they can translate that investor conviction into a new, dominant layer in the enterprise security stack. Can an AI agent really become the first responder for every security alert?
Sources
- [Goldman Sachs Alternatives, November 2026] As AI Threats Surge, Daylight Raises $80M Led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives | https://am.gs.com/en-gb/advisors/news/press-release/2026/daylight-series-b-investment-goldman-sachs-alternatives
- [Business Insider, November 2025] Israeli Cybersecurity Startup Got a $33 Million Term Sheet From Craft | https://www.businessinsider.com/cybersecurity-startup-got-a-33-million-term-sheet-from-craft-2025-11
- [Calcalist Tech, November 2026] Israeli cyber startup Daylight raises $80 million Series B | https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/x8vrvo7dt
- [SiliconANGLE, November 2026] AI-driven managed security startup Daylight raises $80M on 40-fold revenue growth | https://siliconangle.com/2026/11/10/ai-driven-managed-security-startup-daylight-raises-80m-on-40-fold-revenue-growth/
- [SecurityWeek, November 2026] Daylight Lands $80 Million for AI-Powered Security Operations | https://www.securityweek.com/daylight-lands-80-million-for-ai-powered-security-operations/
- [MLQ.ai, retrieved 2026] Daylight company profile | https://mlq.ai/
- [gptonline.ai, retrieved 2026] Daylight customer profile | https://gptonline.ai/
- [cybercompanyprofiles.com, retrieved 2026] Daylight product and MCP server details | https://cybercompanyprofiles.com/
- [Axios, July 2025] Exclusive: Daylight raises $7M seed led by Bain Capital Ventures | https://www.axios.com/pro/enterprise-software-deals/2025/07/22/daylight-security-7m-seed-bain-capital-ventures