Dream, an artificial intelligence and cyber defence company specialising in sovereign AI, has raised $260 million in a funding round valuing it at $3 billion, as it accelerates its intercontinental expansion plans.
The latest financing, which brought Dream's total funding to $412 million, was co-led by the US venture capital firms Bicycle Capital and Group 11, with participation from Antler, Bain Capital Ventures, Tru Arrow Partners and other investors, Dream said in a statement on Thursday. The round was the company's fifth, data from Crunchbase shows.
The new capital will help Dream, which is based in Tel Aviv, to position its sovereign AI and national cyber defence platforms across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, it said, without specifying which countries it is looking to move into.
"Every nation has data. Few can protect it. Fewer can use it. Sovereign AI is the key," said Shalev Hulio, co-founder and chief executive of Dream. "The future of a nation should never depend on technology it does not control."
Sovereign AI is reshaping how governments, businesses and even militaries think about the future of power. The term is appearing in policy papers, billion-dollar infrastructure deals and national strategies from Washington to Beijing, and increasingly across the Gulf.
The concept of sovereign AI has become central to several technology strategies, centred on ensuring that highly sensitive digital operations such as health care, financial systems, defence applications and government data remain governed by domestic laws rather than by foreign cloud providers.
Sovereign AI is becoming a foundational layer of national resilience, competitiveness and security, said Sebastian Kurz, president and co-founder of Dream, and former chancellor of Austria.
"The defining question for governments is no longer whether they will use AI, but whether they will own it. 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," he said.
"Countries that build and control their own AI capabilities will be better positioned to protect critical infrastructure, strengthen public services, improve decision-making and safeguard their national interests."
