Ocean Raises $28 Million for AI Email Security Platform

Ocean, a cybersecurity startup, emerged from stealth mode with $28 million in total funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Picture Capital and Cerca Partners. High-profile angel investors joined the round, including Wiz co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport, as well as Yevgeny Dibrov and Nadir Izrael, the co-founders of Armis.

The company is developing an agentic email security platform to detect AI-powered phishing attacks. Shay Shwartz, the founder, previously worked in cybersecurity roles for Israel's elite defense and intelligence units, including projects connected to the Iron Dome.

He later joined Axis, a startup acquired by HPE, before launching Ocean two years ago.

Shwartz stated that AI has automated the process of creating targeted phishing emails. He said the technology allows attackers to analyze public information and generate personalized attacks at larger scale than before. Ocean built a small language model to analyze incoming emails, understand sender intent, and compare it against organizational context.

The startup claims its system can detect fraud and impersonation attempts.

Ocean is reviewing billions of emails each month for customers including Kayak, Kingston Technology, and Headspace. Shwartz described the approach as placing a guard at every door to maintain inbox hygiene. The company positions its platform as a response to limitations in existing email security tools from vendors such as Proofpoint, Mimecast, and Abnormal Security.