Saudi cybersecurity startup COGNNA has raised USD 9.2 million in Series A funding, a round announced during Black Hat MEA 2025 and first reported by Arageek. The round was led by Impact46, with BNVT Capital, Vision Ventures and tali ventures joining as new investors. According to Impact46’s earlier documentation on the company’s trajectory, COGNNA previously secured a USD 2.25M seed round in 2023, covered in detail on Impact46’s official announcement.
Founded in 2022 by Ibrahim Alshamrani and Ziyad Alshehri, COGNNA has developed its flagship AI-driven SOC platform Nexus, which the company introduced publicly in April 2025 and showcased as an “Agentic AI” engine for autonomous threat detection and response. The launch was highlighted at Cognna’s Nexus release page, where the firm explains how Nexus integrates real-time telemetry, automated alert validation and incident response across enterprise environments.
COGNNA says Nexus is already reducing SOC workloads by handling the bulk of threat triage autonomously, with performance metrics released by Saudi media suggesting that clients have experienced faster detection and lower operational costs, outlined in coverage from Ajel News. The new funding, as stated in reports on Arageek’s breakdown, will be used to accelerate platform development, expand SOC operations teams and broaden COGNNA’s reach across MENA and emerging global markets.
COGNNA also strengthened its credibility in 2025 by earning Tier 2 Managed SOC certification from Saudi Arabia’s National Cybersecurity Authority, a milestone the company detailed through its regulatory announcement on Cognna’s accreditation page. This certification allows COGNNA to provide regulated managed SOC services to government-linked and private-sector institutions.
The company has begun securing large enterprise customers as well, including a major partnership with HR and payroll SaaS provider Jisr. According to Cognna’s partnership announcement, Nexus now supports Jisr’s security operations for more than 4,500 businesses and over 500,000 employees, a significant early deployment highlighting the scale of demand for automated security operations in the region.
Growing interest in AI driven cyber defense across the Middle East adds further context to COGNNA’s momentum. Market insights showing rising awareness of AI-related threats among Saudi companies were recently published through industry analysis on Middle East AI News, reflecting broader digital transformation efforts that create tailwinds for solutions like Nexus.
As COGNNA prepares to expand beyond Saudi Arabia, the company says it will use the new capital to grow its engineering, product and commercial teams while investing in AI first security research. With cybersecurity spending rising globally and regional enterprises demanding faster, more autonomous security systems, COGNNA’s funding positions it to compete with both regional SOC providers and international AI security vendors.
COGNNA Bags $9.2M funding to advance agentic AI Cyber Defense