Ballistic Ventures Targets $490M for Two New Cybersecurity Funds

By Nathan Brooks

Ballistic Ventures is seeking $490 million across two new funds, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The San Francisco-based cybersecurity venture firm has set a $360 million goal for its third flagship fund and a $130 million goal for a separate vehicle, Ballistic Ventures Fund B.

Neither vehicle had recorded any sales at the time of filing, and Ballistic declined to comment. That leaves the filing as evidence of fundraising intent, not a completed raise. The distinction matters to founders and limited partners: neither target is capital already available for investments.

The SEC filings break the ambition into three figures:

• Third flagship fund: $360 million, matching the size of Ballistic's 2024 fund.
• Ballistic Ventures Fund B: $130 million, with no recorded sales at filing.
• Combined target: $490 million, also with no recorded sales at filing.

The flagship represents about 73% of the combined target and is roughly 2.8 times the size of Fund B. In practical terms, the plan keeps the flagship at its 2024 size while adding a smaller separate vehicle. The filing does not establish how much either vehicle will raise or when capital will become available.

The AI demand signal

The fundraising push comes as AI changes both sides of cybersecurity: AI agents open new opportunities for security startups, while the technology enables more sophisticated attacks. Microsoft's latest Digital Defense Report warns that hackers increasingly use AI for phishing, social engineering and malware development. Microsoft says the result is faster attacks at greater scale.

A JPMorgan Chase report puts the investor shift in numbers. AI-enabled companies accounted for about 72% of U.S. cybersecurity venture deals through May, up from 36% in 2019. The share doubled, a 36-percentage-point increase, and now amounts to roughly seven in ten deals rather than just over one in three.

That finding gives Ballistic's fundraising a clear market backdrop. It does not establish which startups the firm will fund, how much of either target it will raise or how quickly it will deploy capital. The JPMorgan Chase data show that cybersecurity investors have already shifted deal activity toward AI-enabled companies.

A team with an acquisition record

Ballistic Ventures' founding record places its launch in late 2021. Ted Schlein, a former Kleiner Perkins partner, co-founded the firm with Barmak Meftah, former president of AT&T Cybersecurity, and Roger Thornton, co-founder of Fortify Software and AlienVault.

Ballistic's portfolio history includes two disclosed exits:

• Talon Cyber Security, acquired by Palo Alto Networks.
• Pangea, bought by CrowdStrike.

Ballistic has also backed Armadin, GetReal, Nudge Security and Oligo Security. The two disclosed exits give founders a concrete example of the path from venture backing to acquisition by a major security vendor.

What does this change for cybersecurity founders?

The immediate change is a prospective increase in the capital Ballistic could deploy, not a guaranteed increase in the number or pace of checks. The practical answer for founders is to treat the $490 million target as fundraising context, not a financing forecast.

The filing provides no basis for assuming that an individual company will receive more money, faster money or money at a particular valuation. Its clearest signal is that a specialist investor is trying to assemble fresh capital for the AI-driven cybersecurity market.

The portfolio offers the more concrete reference point. Talon Cyber Security and Pangea show that Ballistic has backed businesses later bought by Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, respectively. For founders, that is an acquisition pathway in the firm's history, not a promise of a buyer or exit.

The next test is whether Ballistic records sales against the two SEC filings and how its portfolio develops as AI-enabled security companies compete for capital. Until the filings show sales, the $490 million figure marks fundraising intent rather than deployable capital.