🛡️Ballistic Ventures Seeks $490M for Two New Cybersecurity Funds

Cybersecurity VCs are raising money for the AI attack wave

Ballistic Ventures wants $490 million, and it filed with the SEC this week to get it. The bulk, $360 million, goes into its third flagship fund. The rest, $130 million, goes into a separate vehicle called Ballistic Ventures Fund B. Why should you care? Because the money is following AI-powered attacks. Hackers are using AI for phishing, social engineering, and malware development, and they're moving faster and at bigger scale. If you're running a security team, that means your detection stack is getting tested by tools that didn't exist two years ago. It also means the startups selling AI-native defenses are about to get a lot more capital to hire and ship. The numbers back up the hype. U.S. cybersecurity startups raised $11.5 billion in 2025, the highest since 2022. About 72% of U.S. cybersecurity venture deals through May this year involved AI-enabled companies. The firm was founded in late 2021 and has backed Talon Cyber Security, Pangea, Armadin, GetReal, Nudge Security, and Oligo Security. Its debut fund raised $300 million in 2022, and the second flagship followed two years later at $360 million. Worth watching: neither fund had recorded any sales when the filing went in. Filings like this signal intent, not closed money.