The global battle against cyber threats just got a powerful new ally. Equixly has secured €10 million in Series A funding to deploy its army of AI powered ethical hackers. This Italian startup promises to revolutionize API security by finding complex flaws that traditional tools miss. It marks a significant shift in how companies protect their digital assets.
A Major Financial Boost for European Cybersecurity
Equixly has successfully closed a significant investment round totaling €10 million. This Series A funding was led by 33N Ventures. They are a specialized investor focused on cybersecurity and infrastructure software.
Alpha Intelligence Capital also joined the round as a new investor. The funding saw continued support from existing backers as well. These include JME Ventures, 360 Capital, and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze.
Mattia Dalla Piazza, CEO and co-founder of Equixly, stated:
“We are making advanced security testing continuous, autonomous, and accessible. Teams get human-level reasoning at the scale modern software demands.”
This capital injection will fuel the company’s ambitious growth plans. The primary focus is expanding their team of experts. They also plan to enhance their proprietary AI models.
The company aims to establish a strong presence in the UK market. A new sales and marketing hub will open there early next year. This move signals their intent to compete on a global stage.
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Why Modern Web Apps Are Vulnerable to Attacks
The digital world runs on Application Programming Interfaces or APIs. They connect different software systems and allow them to talk to each other.
However, this connectivity comes with a heavy price. APIs have become the number one target for malicious hackers. Traditional security methods are struggling to keep up with the pace of development.
Manual penetration testing is often considered the gold standard. A human expert tries to break into the system to find weaknesses. But this process is slow and very expensive.
Automated scanners are the common alternative. They are fast and cheap to run. The problem is that they are often “dumb” tools. They miss complex logic errors that a human would spot.
The Reality of API Risks:
- Shadow APIs: These are forgotten or undocumented endpoints that developers leave behind.
- Business Logic Flaws: These are bugs that allow users to do things they shouldn’t, like buying an item for $0.
- False Positives: Traditional tools often flag safe code as dangerous, wasting developer time.
This forces companies to make a difficult choice. They must choose between checking everything quickly or checking a small part thoroughly. Equixly claims to solve this dilemma.
AI Agents That Think Like Human Hackers
Equixly approaches security differently than standard tools. They utilize “Agentic AI” technology. These are autonomous software agents designed to mimic human behavior.
The platform does not just look for known bad code patterns. It actively tries to understand how the application works. It learns the logic behind the software.
Once the AI understands the system, it launches simulated attacks. These attacks look exactly like what a real hacker would do. This allows the tool to find deep vulnerabilities.
Key Performance Metrics:
| Feature | Traditional DAST Tools | Equixly AI Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Detection Rate | Misses logic flaws | Identifies 80% more vulnerabilities |
| False Positives | Often high | Kept below 1% |
| Scope | Only scans known URLs | Finds 10-20% hidden “Shadow” APIs |
| Speed | Fast but shallow | Fast and deep |
The system integrates directly into the software development lifecycle. This means security checks happen automatically as developers write code. It fixes issues before they ever reach the public.
Solving the Hidden Shadow API Problem
One of the biggest threats to enterprise security is the unknown. Large companies often have thousands of APIs running at once.
It is common for developers to lose track of older versions. These unmonitored connection points are called “Shadow APIs.” They are like unlocked back doors into a secure building.
Equixly excels at mapping out a company’s entire digital footprint. It discovers these hidden endpoints automatically.
A recent analysis revealed a startling fact.
Enterprises are often unaware of 10 to 20 percent of their own API endpoints. Equixly brings these into the light so they can be secured.
This capability is vital for industries like banking and insurance. These sectors handle sensitive customer data. A single unsecured shadow API could lead to a massive data breach.
Addressing New Threats in the AI Era
The rise of AI has created a double-edged sword for software development. AI coding assistants allow developers to build software faster than ever.
This speed often leads to more bugs and security holes. The attack surface is expanding beyond what human security teams can manage.
Equixly is positioning itself as the defense against this new wave of risk. They are also addressing specific emerging threats.
The company was among the first to flag risks in the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This is a new standard for how AI models connect to data.
The platform ensures privacy is maintained.
The AI models are built entirely in-house. This gives Equixly maximum control over data security. Clients do not have to worry about their sensitive data being trained on public models.
As regulations around data privacy tighten in Europe and the US, this autonomous approach is becoming essential. Companies need to prove they are secure without slowing down innovation.
Equixly provides the solution to this modern paradox. It offers the depth of a human tester with the speed of a machine.
