Dream, an Israeli cybersecurity company that builds AI-driven cyber defense for governments and critical-infrastructure operators, raised $260 million at a $3 billion valuation -- a roughly 3x markup in about a year and one of the largest cyber rounds of 2026. The financing was co-led by Bicycle Capital and Group 11, with participation from Antler, Bain Capital Ventures, and Tru Arrow Partners. The company employs around 350 people across Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi, and Vienna.
The founding team is the story. Dream was started in 2023 by Shalev Hulio, the former CEO of NSO Group -- maker of the Pegasus spyware -- alongside former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and security veteran Gil Dolev. That combination of offensive-cyber pedigree and head-of-state relationships is precisely what lets a three-year-old company sell directly into national defense procurement.
“The financing was co-led by Bicycle Capital and Group 11, with participation from Antler, Bain Capital Ventures, and Tru Arrow Partners.”
Dream's pitch is 'sovereign AI' -- cyber-defense systems a government can run on its own terms, without depending on a foreign vendor's cloud. The company says it has secured nearly $300 million in total contract value since beginning commercial operations in late 2024, and the new capital is earmarked to extend its footprint into Asia and the Americas.