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US cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks announced its intent to acquire Israeli startup KOI for $400mn.
This comes just a week after Palo Alto acquired another Israeli information security company, CyberArk, for $25bn. The close acquisition of these two Israeli firms appears to have been deliberately planned, given that both companies are focused on tackling the same cybersecurity challenge: protecting AI agents and autonomous tools that operate outside traditional cybersecurity frameworks.
Koi was founded by Amit Assaraf, Idan Dardikman, and Itai Kruk, all of whom are alumni of the IDF’s elite 8200 Intelligence Corps. The company provides an endpoint security platform aimed at tracking, monitoring, and enabling safe software installs, with a focus on AI-powered tools.
"AI agents and tools are the ultimate insiders. They have full access to your systems and data, but operate entirely outside the view of traditional security controls. By acquiring Koi, we will be closing this gap and setting a new standard for endpoint security,” Lee Klarich, Chief Product & Technology Officer, stated in a joint press release.
"We founded Koi to secure the next frontier of risk,” Amit Assaraf, co-founder and CEO of Koi, added. “Joining forces with Palo Alto Networks will allow us to scale our technology to the world's largest organisations, delivering protection that makes work on the modern AI-native endpoint secure by design."
This acquisition marks a rapid exit for Koi’s investors and founders, given the company’s establishment in 2024. Prior to its acquisition by Palo Alto, the company raised a total of $48mn, mostly stemming from a $38mn Series A round in September 2025, Calcalist noted.
This acquisition marks the latest in a rise in Israeli cybersecurity acquisitions. In addition to the purchases of Koi and CyberArk, fellow Israeli firm Wiz was acquired by Google for $32bn, the largest acquisition of an Israeli company in history.
Such market activity demonstrates the resilience of the Israeli tech sector and the economy at large amid regional instability. Israel’s post-war economic recovery already appears to be well underway, with the country posting a 3.1% GDP growth for 2025, beating analysts’ estimates of 2.8% to 2.9%.
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