Sarasota just landed a heavyweight in the cyber arena. Local cybersecurity startup TENEX.AI has closed a $250 million Series B round, a surge of capital that shoves the young firm straight into the national AI security spotlight. The company, which came out of stealth in early 2025, says the fresh cash will fuel hiring, product development and an international push. CEO and co-founder Eric Foster is pitching the raise as a bet on using AI to multiply human defenders, while local tech leaders see the round as a potential anchor for more cybersecurity jobs across the Tampa Bay region.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, TENEX locked in the $250 million Series B with Crosspoint Capital Partners leading the deal. The company also shared its own announcement outlining how it plans to beef up staff, deepen its AI research and expand into EMEA markets. In TENEX's blog, the firm says the money will fund hundreds of new engineering and SOC analyst roles and speed up product integrations with major cloud security platforms.
TENEX first surfaced from stealth in early 2025 and went on to raise a $27 million Series A that September, as reported by the Business Observer. That earlier reporting noted the company’s move into space on Potter Park Drive and its rapid build-out of sales and engineering teams following its initial customer wins.
AI-Native, Human-Led Security
TENEX describes itself as an “AI-native, human-led” managed detection and response provider, one that uses agentic AI to triage every alert and hands off tougher calls to trained analysts. In a company blog post, Foster wrote that the platform reviews 100% of customer alert telemetry in under a minute and that TENEX expects to add more than 250 people as operations scale. The company says that pairing automation with human judgment sharply cuts false positives and leads to faster containment when things go sideways.
A Big Win For CyberBay And Jobs
Regional investors and economic development advocates say a blockbuster tech round like this helps deepen Tampa Bay’s “CyberBay” ecosystem and can draw more venture attention south to Sarasota. The Tampa Bay Business Journal has already tagged the deal as one of the largest Series B raises in the region. Local workforce programs connected to USF and Cyber Florida are seen as likely pipelines as TENEX ramps up hiring. If the company follows through on plans to staff up across engineering, SOC operations and sales, city officials say it would meaningfully boost the visibility of Sarasota’s growing tech cluster.
What’s Next
Investors say the new capital is earmarked to speed TENEX’s international expansion, tighten integrations with cloud security platforms and keep the AI research engine running hot. A December announcement from DTCP Growth had already flagged TENEX’s plans for an EMEA build-out, including an international headquarters and regional hiring targeted for 2026. Over the next 12 months, local and institutional partners will be watching closely to see whether the company converts this funding into the promised wave of new jobs and partner deals.
