Observed Signal · Nov 3, 2026 · Funding · Source: techcrunch · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Ballistic Ventures seeks $490M for new cybersecurity funds
Ballistic Ventures, a cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm co-founded by former Kleiner Perkins partner Ted Schlein, is raising $490 million across two new funds, according to SEC filings. The firm aims to raise $360 million for its third flagship fund, matching its previous fund size, and $130 million for a separate vehicle called Ballistic Ventures Fund B. This fundraising comes amid an AI-driven boom in cybersecurity, with AI agents creating new opportunities for startups and investors. Ballistic's portfolio includes companies like Talon Cyber Security and Pangea, which were acquired by Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike respectively. The firm's ties to Kleiner Perkins and its investment strategy similar to other cybersecurity-focused VCs like Forgepoint Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures are noted. U.S. cybersecurity startups raised $11.5 billion in 2025, with AI-enabled companies accounting for a significant share of deals.
This is a significant fundraising event from a major cybersecurity-focused VC firm, indicating investor confidence in the sector and having implications for the broader tech and AI-driven security market.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Ballistic Ventures is seeking $360 million for its third flagship fund and $130 million for a separate vehicle called Ballistic Ventures Fund B.
- The firm filed with the U.S. SEC to raise these funds, with no sales recorded at the time of filing.
- Ballistic Ventures was founded in late 2021 by Ted Schlein, Barmak Meftah, and Roger Thornton.
- The firm's portfolio includes Talon Cyber Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks) and Pangea (acquired by CrowdStrike).
- U.S. cybersecurity startups raised $11.5 billion in 2025, with AI-enabled companies accounting for about 72% of deals through May.
Connected Companies & Entities
5 Entities mapped“Ballistic's ties to storied venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, where Schlein spent more than two decades, help set it apart from rivals.”
“Talon Cyber Security was acquired by Palo Alto Networks.”
“Pangea was bought by CrowdStrike.”
“A recent report by JPMorgan Chase said that U.S. cybersecurity startups raised $11.5 billion in 2025.”
“Microsoft warned that hackers are increasingly using AI for activities ranging from phishing to malware development.”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Auriga Partners Secures €80M for Second Cybersecurity Fund
French VC firm Auriga Partners has announced an €80 million interim closing for its second dedicated cybersecurity fund, Auriga Cyber Ventures II. The fund targets a final size of €100 million, with a hard cap of €120 million, focusing on early-stage European cybersecurity startups. It will invest from pre-seed to Series A, with tickets ranging from €500,000 to €5 million, primarily taking minority stakes and reserving about half of the capital for follow-on investments. The fund aims to back around 30 startups in areas such as AI security, identity protection, and data security. Auriga has already made four investments, backing document fraud prevention firm Finovox, automated pentesting developer Fleuret, AI compliance firm Mankinds, and AI agent security firm Nextident, with plans for two to three more deals by end of 2026. The fund follows Auriga's first €55 million cybersecurity vehicle from 2022, which has generated over €500 million in distributions from exits like Vade and Nexthink.
VCs Back AI‑Native Cybersecurity Startups
Venture investors are increasingly funding AI-native cybersecurity startups addressing new risks introduced by agentic AI. Startups are using AI agents for continuous penetration testing, vulnerability discovery, governance, and agent identity verification. Reported financings include Xbow (Sequoia-backed) in talks for a round valuing it just over $1 billion, Cylake (founded by Nir Zuk) raising a $45M seed led by Greylock, and Cogent Security raising a $42M Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures. Investors cited identity verification for autonomous agents and scaled automated attacks as key market opportunities. Anthropic’s launch of Claude Code Security—an autonomous code-scanning tool—briefly pressured cybersecurity incumbents’ stocks (CrowdStrike, Zscaler), highlighting both disruption risk and investor interest in next‑generation security firms. Industry observers expect winners to emerge over several years as enterprise AI infrastructure matures.
VC Megafunds Push for Bigger War Chests
Multiple prominent venture firms are raising substantially larger funds as capital concentrates at the top of the VC market. Reports say Founders Fund is planning a ~$6 billion growth vehicle, Spark Capital is raising about $3 billion (boosted by an early Anthropic bet), and General Catalyst is seeking roughly $10 billion for new funds. PitchBook data shows funds over $500 million accounted for more than half of venture capital deployed in the last four years despite representing a small share of funds by count. The newsletter also notes related AI and infrastructure signals: a data-center expansion in Abilene tied to Oracle and OpenAI faced financing friction after OpenAI stepped back, and a range of startup funding and geopolitical risks were summarized in the week’s roundup.
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