Dream hits $3bn valuation with bold vision for government-owned AI
The company, co-founded by former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Israeli entrepreneur Shalev Hulio, has raised $260m to expand its sovereign AI and cyber-defence platforms worldwide
Dream, the Israeli-founded cyber and artificial intelligence company co-founded by former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Israeli entrepreneur Shalev Hulio, has raised $260 million at a $3 billion valuation as it expands what it calls “sovereign AI” for governments and critical infrastructure operators.
The funding, announced today, will be used to accelerate deployment of Dream’s sovereign AI and national cyber-defence platforms across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, as governments increasingly seek to build and operate artificial intelligence systems under their own control.
The round was co-led by Bicycle Capital and Group 11, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Antler, Tru Arrow Partners and other investors. Dream said it has now secured nearly $300 million in contract value since launching commercial operations in late 2024 and has raised a total of $412 million since its founding.
The latest financing marks another major milestone for the company, which became a unicorn in 2025 following a $100 million funding round that valued the business at $1.1 billion. Just over a year later, its valuation has climbed to $3 billion.
Founded in 2023 by Kurz, Hulio and cyber expert Gil Dolev, Dream was built around a belief that governments needed a fundamentally different approach to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The company serves governments and critical infrastructure organisations across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and employs around 350 people across Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi and Vienna.
The latest funding round marks another milestone for the partnership between Hulio and Kurz. Speaking to Jewish News last year, Kurz described how the pair came together after his departure from politics, united by concerns that governments were struggling to keep pace with rapidly evolving cyber threats and growing technological dependence.
Together with Dolev, they founded Dream to help governments strengthen their cyber defences and gain greater control over the technologies underpinning critical infrastructure and public services. That mission has evolved alongside the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, with Dream now positioning “sovereign AI” as the next strategic layer of national security and resilience.
Shalev Hulio, Dream’s chief executive and co-founder, said: “Land created empires. Industry created nations. Artificial intelligence will create the next super nations.
“Every nation has data. Few can protect it. Fewer can use it. Sovereign AI is the key. We built Dream to help governments secure their information, transform it into knowledge, and convert that knowledge into national capability. The future of a nation should never depend on technology it does not control.”
Kurz, who became Europe’s youngest foreign minister at 27 before later serving as Austria’s chancellor, said “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.
“Sovereign AI is becoming a foundational layer of national resilience, competitiveness and security.”
At the heart of Dream’s offering is Atlas, a sovereign AI platform designed to help governments connect fragmented national data, deploy mission-specific AI models and generate insights entirely within government-controlled environments.
The company also offers Sphere, a cyber-defence platform designed to protect governments and critical infrastructure from nation-state threats, and Hero, an AI-powered security researcher that identifies vulnerabilities and attack paths before attackers can exploit them.
Shu Nyatta, co-founder and managing partner of Bicycle Capital, said governments around the world were increasingly looking for secure ways to deploy artificial intelligence.
“Dream has built a unique platform at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity and government technology. The company is defining one of the most important technology categories of the coming decade.”
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