Software

Dream Raised $260M for “Sovereign AI”

Posted on by Techtime

photo above: Dream co-founders Shalev Hulio (left) and Sebastian Kurz. CREDIT: Dream/Eclipse Media

The Austrian-Israeli AI and cyber defense company Dream, has reached a $3 billion valuation during a $260 million funding round co-led by Bicycle Capital and Group 11. The financing follows nearly $300 million in total contract value secured since Dream began commercial operations in late 2024. The new capital will accelerate deployment of Dream’s sovereign AI and national cyber defense platforms across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.

Dream provides tools to face a growing problem: While artificial intelligence is becoming the next critical infrastructure (following roads, power grids, communications networks, and defense systems) –  most governments do not control the AI systems they increasingly depend on. They rely on models built by foreign companies. Infrastructure they do not own. Technology that can be restricted, interrupted, or withdrawn. At the same time, the data that powers governments remains fragmented across ministries, agencies, and critical infrastructure.

The next super nations

The company helps nations secure their most sensitive information, transform fragmented data into actionable knowledge, and deploy advanced AI entirely under sovereign control. Founded in 2023 by Shalev Hulio, former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, and Gil Dolev, Dream serves governments and critical infrastructure organizations across Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The company employs approximately 350 people across Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi, and Vienna. With this financing, Dream has raised $412 million.

“Land created empires. Industry created nations. Artificial intelligence will create the next super nations,” said Shalev Hulio, Co-Founder and CEO of Dream. “Every nation has data., but few can protect it and Fewer can use it. Sovereign AI is the key. The future of a nation should never depend on technology it does not control.”

Sebastian Kurz: “Nations that want to control their future need the ability to operate advanced AI under their own authority, on infrastructure they govern, and in alignment with their own interests. Sovereign AI is becoming a foundational layer of national resilience, competitiveness, and security.”

To face this callenge the company developed three platforms: Sphere helps governments and critical infrastructure operators defend against nation-state cyber threats. Hero is an autonomous AI security researcher that discovers vulnerabilities, identifies attack paths, and reasons like an adversary at machine speed to prevent the most sophisticated cyber threats, and Atlas is Dream’s sovereign AI platform. It enables governments to connect fragmented national data, transform information into structured knowledge, deploy mission-specific AI agents and models, and generate actionable insights entirely within secure government-controlled environments.

Aurora Labs Appointed Peter Mertens Chairman of the Board

Posted on by Techtime

Tel aviv based Aurora Labs, has appointed the auto industry veteran Dr. Ing. Peter Mertens Chairman of the Board. Peter brings more than 35 years of experience steering auto companies, including Daimler and GM. He also served as Head of R&D at Volvo Cars and most recently CTO and Head of R&D and Design at Audi until 2018 when he retired for health reasons. Since the end of 2019 Mertens is back bringing his expertise to the supervisory boards of mobility companies, including Faurecia, proteanTecs andValens.

Founded in 2016 by the CEO Zohar Fox and the COO Ori Lederman, Aurora Labs has developed a remote software management, diagnostics, and over-the-air (OTA) updates for the automotive and IoT industries. Using machine learning algorithms to analyze risks and changes in the software functionality and behavior, Aurora Labs’ Line-Of-Code Behavior technology improves software quality, safety and security. Until now the company has raised $34m from investors such as LG Technology Ventures, Toyota Group, Porsche SE and Marius Nacht (co-founder of Check Point).

The task of managing automotive software becomes more difficult every year. According to Mckinsey, Software is rapidly reprogrammingthe car industry. The four biggest disruptions in recent years—autonomous vehicles, connectivity, electrification, and shared mobility – all rely heavily on leading-edge software.

“As the landscape shifts, automakers that lack sufficient software capabilities will face major risks, including start-of-production (SOP) delays and budget overruns. Even more troubling, software issues could lead to massive recalls or leave companies vulnerable to customer-safety risks resulting from hacking attacks.”

Aurora Labs raised $23 Million for Automotive Software

Posted on by Techtime

Above: Zohar Fox, Aurora Labs’ Co-founder and CEO. “The name of the game is Zero Downtime”

Toyota Group, VW Group and LG Group are looking for new ways to manage their software programs  in a much cost effective and secured manner compared with current methods. For the car manufacturers among them, this issue is urgent. Today’s semi autonomous in-vehicle’s systems are run by complicated multi-million lines software systems, that need to be frequently updated while fully comply with strict standards and regulations such as UNECE WP.29.

They may found a  solution: A combination of embedded software program and a cloud service developed by Aurora Labs from Tel Aviv, that continuously collect actionable data, enabling pre-error detection of line-of-code faults, software error fixes on-the-go and cost-effective OTA updates without downtime for the user. Aurora Labs announced that it has secured $23 million funding from top strategic investors, including LG Technology Ventures, Porsche SE, Toyota Tsusho, a member of Toyota Group and UL Ventures, the investment arm of the global safety certification company UL.

Line-Of-Code Behavior Technology

This announcement is a follow-up to a recent Porsche SE announcement that Aurora Labs’ technology is entering serial implementation within the next two years. Founded in 2016 by Zohar Fox (CEO) and Ori Lederman (COO), Aurora Labs invented  a new technology called Line-Of-Code Behavior protected by 22 registered patents. It provides remote software management, remote diagnostics and over-the-air software updates to guarantee that devices are always-on and to predict and fix software problems, including cybersecurity attacks.

“As auto manufacturers plan for new regulations and all manufacturers prioritize software in their product development, Aurora Labs becomes a strategic partner,” said Zohar Fox, Aurora Labs’ Co-founder and CEO. But the company plans to gain a foothold in other markets as well. Fox told Techtime that following the raising round, Aurora will enter new markets such as Industry 4.0, Robotics, Smart Metering and Automated Warehouses.

Fox: “Our vision is to enable Self Healing Smart Devices. Any software-based device will be able to detect malfunctions, isolate them, fix them and to perform an automatic recovery process. The systemS will never crash and will always be available. The name of the game is Zero Downtime, and that’s a real game changer.”