New York – October 29, 2026 -- Bold Security, an endpoint data loss prevention (DLP) startup that has raised $40 million, has been named to the 2027 Fortune Cyber 60 in the early-stage category, its first year on the list.
Fortune list screens 60 unexited venture-backed security startups
The Fortune Cyber 60 is developed with Lightspeed Venture Partners and AWS. It covers venture-backed cybersecurity companies that have not had an IPO, acquisition or other significant exit. Lightspeed evaluates hundreds of candidates on annual recurring revenue, year-over-year growth and validated operating data, then groups the 60 selections into three stages of 20.
Bold replaces pattern matching with on-device language models
Bold targets a long-standing weakness of legacy DLP: pattern matching catches PII and PCI data but misses source code, financial models and board documents. It also fires on legitimate work, and the resulting alert volume leads teams to switch blocking off, which turns a prevention tool into a detection tool.
Bold runs small language models on every device. They classify data by meaning, read the context around each action, and block or coach users at the moment of action. The company says the approach needs no cloud round trip, no regex rules and leaves no coverage gap when a device is offline.
The pitch rests on a shift in where work happens. Desktop assistants and AI agents increasingly run locally, outside the paths legacy DLP was built to monitor. CEO Nati Hazut said the company bet on the endpoint as "both the new risk surface and the right place to solve it."
Polyrize founders raised $40 million from three venture firms
Bold was founded in 2024 by the team behind Polyrize, the cloud data security company acquired by Varonis. Its backers are Bessemer Venture Partners, Picture Capital and Red Dot Capital Partners.
Tekion, HiBob, Cresta and Shutterfly are among its customers. They use the platform to prevent data loss, identify risky insiders and secure AI usage on the endpoint.
Amit Karp, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, said few companies have been willing to rethink how DLP works, and that Bold uses endpoint AI to prevent leaks without obstructing employees.