Momentum Cyber was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal, in a piece by James Rundle examining the surge of funding flowing to AI-security startups led by veteran cybersecurity executives. The article centered on Neo, a Boston-based startup founded by former SentinelOne leaders Nick Warner and Shlomi Salem alongside tech veteran Eran Shirazi, which launched from stealth with $100 million in combined seed and Series A funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Craft Ventures, and Merlin Ventures. The piece cited Momentum Cyber’s finding that 79 funding rounds involved AI security startups in just the first half of 2026.
The article placed Neo within a broader wave of repeat founders — including Mandiant’s Kevin Mandia, Cybereason’s Lior Div, and Cyderes’ Eric Foster — raising outsized rounds for their next ventures, and explored why investors are rewarding experience as AI reshapes enterprise security. Founder & CEO Eric McAlpine’s commentary was featured in the piece, noting that investor trust in these repeat founders stems from their track record, and that the relationships built during a first or second startup tend to accelerate the third.
Read the full article on WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/pro/cybersecurity/neo-raises-100-million-from-stealth-as-investors-back-battle-tested-cyber-execs-07e2780e?mod=pro-cybersecurity_trendingnow_article_pos1&tpl=cs