Nexusflow raises $10.6M to bring generative AI to cybersecurity

Nexusflow, a startup that aims to help security teams make sense of cybersecurity data using generative AI, announced today that it has raised $10.6 million in a seed round of funding. The round was led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from Fusion Fund and several AI experts in Silicon Valley.

The startup, which was founded by UC Berkeley computer science professor Jiantao Jiao and two former executives from SambaNova and Synopsys, claims to be the first company to apply generative AI to cybersecurity. Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that can create new content or data from existing data, such as text, images, audio or video.

Nexusflow uses generative AI to enable security professionals to interact with cybersecurity data and tools using natural language commands. For example, a user can ask Nexusflow to scan a network for vulnerabilities, generate a report on the latest threats, or configure a firewall using plain English. Nexusflow then synthesizes information from various security sources and operates the security tools via their APIs.

According to Jiao, Nexusflow’s founder and CEO, generative AI can enhance the capabilities of security teams by reducing the complexity and workload of managing security operations. He also believes that generative AI is the future of cybersecurity, as it can help security teams cope with the ever-evolving and increasing cyber threats.

“Security professionals grapple with an unending stream of evolving threats,” Jiao said in a statement. “They wrestle with countless data sources and tools, their work feeling like an eternal grind. Security operations centers perennially operate with too few hands to manage the ever-increasing workload. The intersection of generative AI and cybersecurity is heating up but remains less crowded than fields like sales or legal.”

Jiao is not alone in his vision. Some of the tech giants, such as Google and Microsoft, have also introduced generative AI features to their security products this year, allowing users to query security data using natural language.

Nexusflow, however, claims to have an edge over its competitors by offering a more comprehensive and seamless solution that can integrate with any security tool or data source. The startup also says that its generative AI models are designed to operate behind a customer’s firewall or in the cloud, ensuring data privacy and compliance.

Nexusflow has not yet launched its product to the market, but it says that it is in talks with “many companies” for proof of concepts. The startup plans to use the new funding to expand its team, which currently consists of 10 full-time employees, and to continue its research and development and product development.