Cato Networks raises $359 million to redefine enterprise security
Cato Networks has raised $359 million in a late-stage funding round, bringing its total valuation to $4.8 billion. The company, which provides a secure networking platform built entirely in the cloud, says the money will support its product development, AI capabilities, and global expansion.
The new investment is intended to accelerate development of Cato’s AI-driven SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) platform. The company also plans to use the funds to expand its global operations and deepen its research and development work.
Unified cloud-native platform
Cato offers what it describes as a “single-vendor SASE platform” that converges network and security services in the cloud. The platform is cloud-native and globally distributed, with a private backbone that spans more than 90 points of presence (PoPs) around the world.
The company says its approach is designed to reduce complexity by eliminating the need for multiple point products and hardware appliances. Cato’s platform is used to connect users, sites, and cloud applications securely and efficiently through one platform.
AI and security at the core
Cato plans to invest the new capital into further expanding its use of AI across its platform. This includes real-time threat prevention and detection capabilities, which the company says help reduce mean time to detect (MTTD) and respond (MTTR) to threats.
The company highlights that because its platform inspects all traffic flows globally, it has unique visibility into enterprise network and security activity. Cato says this global dataset strengthens the accuracy and performance of its AI models.
“With more than 3,500 enterprise customers, consistent hyper-growth, and repetitive and scalable wins against all leading competitors, Cato is a proven and mature business to invest in,” said Shlomo Kramer, CEO at Cato Networks. “Our true SASE platform and decade of AI innovation differentiates Cato from legacy vendors that favor a portfolio of point solutions. Customers and partners understand the difference and select Cato to benefit from proven security, operational efficiency, and business agility.”