Sentra Raises $50M to Combat Shadow Data Risks in AI-Driven Enterprises

A Major Funding Milestone for Sentra

Sentra, a leader in cloud-native data protection, has successfully raised $50 million in Series B funding, pushing its total investment above $100 million. This round was spearheaded by Key1 Capital and saw participation from prominent investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Zeev Ventures, Standard Investments, and Munich Re Ventures.

The Rising Challenge of Shadow Data Amid AI Growth

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated in enterprises, the volume of sensitive data generated and manipulated is surging, introducing new security vulnerabilities. A critical concern is "shadow data"—data copies and movements that happen outside the visibility of traditional security tools. This creates data sprawl and compliance challenges.

Sentra’s Unique Approach to Data Security

Unlike traditional security solutions that add layers onto existing systems, Sentra's Cloud-Native Data Security Platform (DSP) was built from scratch to autonomously detect, classify, and protect sensitive data across various environments such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, SaaS applications, on-premises servers, and AI pipelines.

At the core of Sentra’s platform is an AI-driven classification engine powered by large language models (LLMs). These models understand the context of data beyond fixed rules or regular expressions, enabling identification of sensitive information even in unstructured formats like documents, images, audio, and code repositories with over 95% accuracy.

Importantly, Sentra operates entirely within the client’s environment, ensuring compliance with data residency requirements and eliminating risks of data exposure during scanning.

Comprehensive Security Lifecycle Management

Sentra combines several security layers into one platform:

• DSPM (Data Security Posture Management): Continuously assesses risks such as misconfigured access controls and duplicated sensitive files.
• DDR (Data Detection & Response): Monitors suspicious activities in real-time, including exfiltration attempts and ransomware attacks.
• DAG (Data Access Governance): Manages user and application permissions enforcing least privilege access.

This integrated approach transforms data protection into a dynamic, scalable security system.

Expertise Driving Innovation

Sentra’s leadership team includes notable figures from Israeli cyber intelligence, such as Asaf Kochan, President and former Commander of Unit 8200, CEO Yoav Regev who led the Cyber Department of Unit 8200, CTO Ron Reiter, an experienced entrepreneur, and VP of Product Yair Cohen with expertise from Microsoft and Datadog.

Future Growth and Vision

The $50 million funding will enable Sentra to expand its team, scale operations, and enhance its platform’s capabilities to secure generative AI workloads, AI assistants, and new data pipelines. This will empower security teams with improved visibility and control over sensitive data across large-scale AI environments.

CEO Yoav Regev emphasizes, “AI is only as secure as the data behind it. Sentra breaks barriers, enabling enterprises to innovate safely and rapidly.”

With AI adoption rising and regulatory demands increasing, Sentra’s platform is positioned to set a new standard for enterprise data protection in the AI era.