Cato Networks Expands Into AI Security With First-Ever Startup Acquisition

The SASE vendor announced it has acquired AI security startup Aim Security while also disclosing it has surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue.

Cato Networks announced its first-ever M&A deal Wednesday with its acquisition of Aim Security, a move that will enable the SASE vendor to expand into the fast-growing AI security segment.

Terms of the deal for Aim Security — which is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, as is Cato — were not disclosed. The startup has nearly 50 employees, Cato told CRN.

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A top provider in the crucial SASE (secure access service edge) market, Cato Networks is now also seeking to become a player in the red-hot area of securing AI adoption with the acquisition of Aim Security.

Founded in 2022, Aim Security offers capabilities for securing the usage of both public and private AI applications, including AI agents. The startup has also offered AI security posture management (AI-SPM), which provides improved visibility into AI models and applications with the goal of discovering vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

Cato said it plans to have Aim Security’s capabilities integrated into its Cato SASE Cloud Platform as of early 2026.

The vendor’s expansion into AI security makes sense with SASE platforms becoming the standard way that enterprises connect employees and resources in the cloud era — thus making SASE also the “primary control point for all AI interactions,” Cato said in a news release.

Aim Security had raised at least $28 million in funding from investors including YL Ventures and Canaan Partners.

The acquisition comes after Cato Networks was recently ranked as a SASE “leader” for the second year in a row by Gartner, as part of the research firm’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for SASE Platforms.

Cato Networks also announced two other indicators of its momentum Wednesday.

The company disclosed that it has surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue, up from $250 million as of the end of 2024, and added $50 million in new funding to its Series G round initially announced in June. The new funding comes from Acrew Capital and brings the round to a total of $409 million, with the company’s previously announced valuation of $4.8 billion remaining the same, Cato said.