AI Governance & Security Vendor Wiki

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Apex Security

Researched 2026-06-28. Primary category: agent-runtime-security. Acquired by Tenable (announced 2025-05-29).

One-liner — An AI-attack-surface / AI-governance startup (discover ungoverned AI, enforce policy, govern agents) bought by exposure-management vendor Tenable and folded into Tenable One.

What it does

Apex secures the AI attack surface: it discovers ungoverned / shadow AI (apps, AI-generated code, AI identities), enforces policy on AI usage, and controls exposure across both the AI tools an organization uses and the AI systems it builds — including governance/runtime control of AI agents. The pitch is visibility + control over everything AI in the enterprise, mapped into a security/exposure view.

Where it sits in the stack

Primary agent-runtime-security (runtime governance of agentic AI) with strong overlap into ai-spm (AI discovery/posture) and ai-access-governance (shadow AI). Layer: model-prompt. Lethal-trifecta role: as a governance/visibility + policy layer it touches all three legs indirectly — flagging risky untrusted-input exposure, sensitive-data handling, and AI egress. Post-acquisition it becomes the AI lens of Tenable’s exposure-management view.

Deployment & architecture

SaaS / API-based discovery and policy enforcement across the AI estate (used tools + built systems). Following close, capabilities are delivered as part of Tenable One, Tenable’s unified exposure-management platform — adding AI visibility, context and control alongside vuln/asset exposure data. Integrations: the enterprise SaaS/AI estate, IdP, Tenable One.

Positioning & differentiators

Apex’s angle was breadth across “AI you use and AI you build” framed as exposure management rather than a single inline firewall — which is exactly why an exposure-management leader (Tenable) acquired it to extend Tenable One into AI. Notable for a marquee investor list. Nearest neighbors: zenity, operant-ai, straiker, noma-security, quilr, reco, nudge-security.

Ownership, funding & M&A

Founded 2023 by Matan Derman (CEO) and Tomer Avni (CPO); Israeli startup (HQ Tel Aviv). Backed by a high-profile group — Sam Altman, Clem Delangue (Hugging Face), Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures (~$25M raised across seed + Series A; exact total not itemized in sources). Acquired by Tenable (NASDAQ: TENB) — announced 2025-05-29; deal value not officially disclosed, Calcalist reported >$105M; expected to close in Q2 2025, with integrated capabilities in Tenable One in H2 2025. Verified against Tenable’s own press release and corroborating press; confirms the seed flag (“acq by Tenable”). Confidence: high.

CTO / hedge-fund lens

Day-2 (AI posture/governance is something you layer on after baseline controls). Relevant mainly if you are a Tenable shop doing exposure management and want AI assets in the same risk picture — shadow-AI discovery + agent governance has real value for a fund worried about ungoverned AI usage. Mild SR 11-7 relevance (AI inventory/governance supports model-risk documentation). Standalone Apex is no longer the buying unit; evaluate via Tenable One.

Competitors / alternatives

zenity, operant-ai, straiker, noma-security, quilr, reco, nudge-security, wiz.

Open questions / to verify

  • Confirm the deal closed (announced 2025-05-29, expected Q2 2025) — verify completion date.
  • Precise total funding (sources cite the investor list; ~$25M approximate).
  • Whether the Apex brand persists or is fully absorbed into Tenable One.

Sources

History

  • [2026-06-28] Stub created from seed registry.
  • [2026-06-28] Researched; confirmed acquired by Tenable (announced 2025-05-29, >$105M reported, into Tenable One H2 2025). Seed flag verified. Filled founding (2023), Tel Aviv HQ, founders, investor list (Altman/Sequoia/Index), AI-exposure-management positioning. Confidence high.

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