How many investments has Merlin Ventures made?

Merlin Ventures has 13 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited, including 4 dated in the last 24 months.

What stage does Merlin Ventures invest at?

Merlin Ventures invests at the Seed, Series A stages.

What is Merlin Ventures's typical check size?

Merlin Ventures typically writes checks of $2M – $6M.

What sectors does Merlin Ventures focus on?

Merlin Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data & Infrastructure, SaaS.

Where is Merlin Ventures located?

Merlin Ventures is headquartered in Mclean, US.

Does Merlin Ventures lead rounds?

Merlin Ventures has led 4 of the 10 rounds where its role is on record.

Who does Merlin Ventures co-invest with?

Merlin Ventures most often shares deals with Ballistic Ventures, CapitalG, Differential Ventures, among 16 tracked co-investors.

Merlin Ventures

Venture capital

Mclean · Seed–Series A · 9 people tracked

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Find your way into Merlin Ventures

701 people in our graph share verified history with the Merlin Ventures team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Ken Chenaultunlockedknows Seth Spergel · together at IBM (overlapped)

×3knows the team · via IBM

knows the team · via Peterson Ventures

×7knows the team · via In-Q-Tel

✨ Fox Verdict

Investment thesis

Merlin Ventures positions itself as more than a capital provider, aiming to be a hands-on platform for cybersecurity founders. It backs exceptional entrepreneurs building next-generation cybersecurity solutions, leveraging deep domain expertise, a network of hundreds of CISOs, and go-to-market capabilities to accelerate enterprise sales and open doors that other investors cannot. The firm emphasizes strategic partnership over merely writing checks, hosting exclusive gatherings of CISOs, AI-native founders, and innovators to spark cybersecurity innovation.

Invests inAI & Machine Learning Cybersecurity Data & Infrastructure SaaS Israel Mclean United States Vienna

Source: firm website, verified Sep 15, 2026.

Stage

Seed–Series A

Check

$2M – $6M

Mclean, Virginia, US

Instruments

Equity

Founded

1999

Last 12 months

3 investments

AUM

$75M

VC funds

Tracked investments

Unicorns

Acquisitions

Team · 9 people

from the firm's website & public directories

David Bloom· Managing Director EMEA

Seth Spergel· Managing Partner· Atlanta, Georgia, United Statesin

Seth Spergel is Managing Partner at Merlin Ventures, where he leads investment strategy and sources early-stage cybersecurity companies for partnership and investment. He was previously VP for Infrastructure Technologies at In-Q-Tel, VP of Engineering at ThinkGeek, and spent 12 years at IBM in roles spanning software development and sales management. He holds a degree in Computer Science and Economics from Brandeis University.

s•••@merlin.vcreveal

Shay Michel· Managing Partner· Tel Aviv District, Israelin

s•••@merlin.vcreveal

Ilan Dray· Chief Experience Officer

Jason Cenamor· Chief Revenue Officer

Karl Mattson· Chief Information Officer

Lior Suchard· Head of Product

Nina Vasquez· Director of Partnerships

Stephen McCarney· VP of Engineering· Sterling, Virginia, United Statesin

Stephen McCarney is an Executive Assistant at Peterson Ventures with experience in operations and executive support across the venture capital, corporate, and education sectors. His work includes managing executive calendars, coordinating travel, and planning events ranging from founder summits to large-scale conferences.

What they invest in

from 9 of 13 portfolio companies

Cybersecurity ×7AI & Machine Learning ×5Enterprise Software ×5Cloud Computing ×3SaaS ×3Advanced Manufacturing ×1Defense Tech ×1E-commerce ×1

HQs:United States×3Canada×1Israel×1

Investments · 13 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2026 · 3 2025 · 1 2023 · 1 2022 · 16 dated

Clutchclutch.ca in 𝕏Jan 2025 · $20M

Clutch is an online platform for buying and selling used cars in Canada, offering pricing, inspection, e-contracting, financing, and delivery through software built in-house.

E-commerceMarketplacesMobility & Transportation

Stephen Seibel(Founder & President)in Dan Park(Chief Executive Officer)in Anshul Ruparell(Chief Financial Officer)inRichard Ball(Chief Production Officer)

Co-investorsCanaan Partners Altos Ventures Lightspeed Venture Partners Panache Ventures Upper90 Alkeon Capital +9 more

Clutch Securityclutch.security in

Clutch Security offers an identity security platform focused on non-human identities, AI agents, and secrets across cloud, SaaS, on-prem, and code environments.

AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise Software

Ofir Har-Chen(Founder)in

Co-investorsSignalFire The Westly Group Lightspeed Venture Partners

Cyolocyolo.io in 𝕏

Cyolo provides a remote access solution focused on secure, privileged connectivity to OT and SCADA systems, designed to work with a company's existing security infrastructure rather than replacing it.

CybersecurityDefense TechEnterprise SoftwareIoTRamat Gan, IL

Almog Apirion(CEO, Co-founder)inDedi Y(Founder)inEran Shmuely(Founder)in

Co-investorsDifferential Ventures Glilot Capital Partners Flint Capital Global Founders Capital National Grid Partners

Huskeyshuskeys.io inSep 2026 · $27M

Huskeys provides an intelligence layer that sits on top of existing Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) to make them adaptive, measurable, and revenue-aware.

AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingCybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Roy Weisfeld(CTO & Co-Founder)inItai Gafni(CEO & Co-Founder)in

Co-investors10D Blackstone Bright Pixel Capital Okta Ventures SV Angel

Neoneo.security in 𝕏Jul 2026 · $25M

Neo builds a security platform that inventories, attributes, and enforces control over AI agents, plugins, and MCP servers running across enterprise endpoints in real time.

AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise Software

Nicholas Warner(Founder (former President and COO of SentinelOne))Shlomi Salem(Head of Product (former VP of Research at SentinelOne))in Eran Shirazi(CTO · Co-founder)in

Co-investorsAndreessen Horowitz Bessemer Venture Partners Craft Ventures

Orca Securityorca.security in 𝕏

Orca Security offers an agentless cloud security platform (CNAPP) that scans cloud accounts, code, containers, and AI workloads to detect, prioritize, and remediate risks from development through runtime.

Cloud ComputingCybersecuritySaaSPortland, US

Gil Geron(CEO & Co-founder)in Avi Shua(Chief Innovation Officer & Co-founder)inEty Spiegel Hubara(Founder)in Liran Antebi(Founder)inMatan Ben Gur(Founder)inShay Filosof(Founder)in

Co-investorsCapitalG Cisco Investments Flyover Capital Harmony Partners ICONIQ Lauder Partners +4 more

Sepiosepiocyber.com inOct 2022

Platform using physical-layer fingerprinting and machine learning plus threat intelligence for hardware infrastructure visibility and enforcement.

Co-investorsBeacon VC Hanaco Venture Capital Mindset Venture US Venture Partners World Trade Ventures (WTV)Citi Ventures +2 more

Talon Cyber Securitytalon-sec.com in 𝕏

Talon develops enterprise browser solutions that provide security controls and threat detection for organizations with remote and hybrid workforces.

AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Co-investorsBallistic Ventures Entrée Capital Evolution Equity Partners Lightspeed Venture Partners Sorenson Ventures Syn Ventures Seed Management Llc +1 more

Tamnoontamnoon.io in 𝕏Sep 2023 · $5.1M

Tamnoon offers an AI-assisted cloud security remediation service that triages, prioritizes, and fixes cloud misconfiguration alerts from CNAPP and cloud security tools.

AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingCybersecuritySammamish, US

Marina Segal(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)in

Board Zohar Alon(Director)in Marcos Castro Osorio(Director)inIdan Perez(Director)in Shay Michel(Director)in

Co-investorsAlphaDrive Bright Pixel Capital Inner Loop Capital Mindset Venture toDay Ventures Elron Ventures +1 more

Torqtorq.comJan 2026 · $140M

TORQ Corporation designs and manufactures centrifugal switches used to control the auxiliary start-winding of single-phase electric motors, supplying these components to motor manufacturers.

Advanced ManufacturingHardware

Co-investorsGreenfield Partners Notable Capital RunwayFBU Bessemer Venture Partners Evolution Equity Partners GGV Capital +1 more

Other

Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.

CybereasonOxeye SecurityTorq Security

Exits · 1

1 acquisitions

Oxeye Securityacq. by GitLab

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Huskeys raises $27 million to manage AI-driven network traffic | brief | MSSP Alert

Huskeys · msspalert.com · Sep 4, 2026

Twin1 AI Raises $20 Million Seed Round Co-Led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners and Aramco Ventures, to Build Digital AI Twins for Professional Knowledge Workers | Morningstar

Neo · morningstar.com · Aug 20, 2026

Torq Resources Secures C$1.25 Million Financing Tied to Loan Extension - TipRanks.com

Torq · tipranks.com · Aug 20, 2026

Cyolo launches CPS Segmentation to curb lateral movement in OT networks - SiliconANGLE

Cyolo · siliconangle.com · Jul 9, 2026

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has Merlin Ventures made?: Merlin Ventures has 13 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited, including 4 dated in the last 24 months.
What stage does Merlin Ventures invest at?: Merlin Ventures invests at the Seed, Series A stages.
What is Merlin Ventures's typical check size?: Merlin Ventures typically writes checks of $2M – $6M.
What sectors does Merlin Ventures focus on?: Merlin Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data & Infrastructure, SaaS.
Where is Merlin Ventures located?: Merlin Ventures is headquartered in Mclean, US.
Does Merlin Ventures lead rounds?: Merlin Ventures has led 4 of the 10 rounds where its role is on record.
Who does Merlin Ventures co-invest with?: Merlin Ventures most often shares deals with Ballistic Ventures, CapitalG, Differential Ventures, among 16 tracked co-investors.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

featuring the team

Merlin Ventures Managing Partner Seth Spergel, Live at RSAC 2025

IPO Edge · Seth Spergel

Seth Spergel, Managing Partner, Merlin Ventures – More Than Money: Standing out in Venture Capit...

ICR · Seth Spergel

Working with Early Stage Technology Companies with Merlin Ventures | Seth Spergel | CPP

ShortArm Solutions and The Cyber Pro Podcast · Seth Spergel

Merlin Ventures with Seth Spergel #cybersecurity #podcast #shorts

CyberBytes: The Podcast · Seth Spergel

Ep613: Shay Michel | General Partner, Merlin Ventures, Managing Partner, toDay Ventures

The Matias Experiment · Shay Michel

Images

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