Kirin Cyber advances a new paradigm:
Self-Protecting, Intelligent, and Self-Aware Data. Protection that travels with the data — everywhere, always.
$575B
Market by 2032
$10.22M
AVG. Breach Cost
$10M
Funding Ask
Why Kirin
Investment Thesis
Kirin offers a unique, proprietary solution to one of the most pressing problems in enterprise security, placing it at the forefront of a major market category shift.
Disruptive Market Imperative Technology
Kirin embeds multi-layered encryption and user-defined access policies directly into the data file itself, so protection travels with the data — regardless of where it is stored, who possesses it, or what devices or networks it traverses.
Addressing Critical Market Need
In an era of rampant data breaches, insider threats, and a global hybrid workforce, organizations lose control once data leaves their network — yet only by sharing data externally can businesses realize the potential value of partnerships.
Strong Market Validation & Momentum
Kirin’s team has previously received significant industry recognition and multiple awards for its prior product solution, demonstrating proven execution capability.
High-Growth Market Sector
Kirin is positioned to capitalize on the rapidly evolving global data security market, expected to reach tens of billions of dollars. Its focus on data-centric security aligns with the industry’s shift toward zero-trust and advanced data protection.
Kirin advances a new paradigm in cybersecurity: Self-Protecting, Intelligent, and Self-Aware Data — with strong potential for sustained growth and market disruption.
The Problem
Why Existing Solutions Are Failing
Despite decades of massive investment and an ever-growing array of security products, the mainstream data protection market continues to fundamentally fail to stop the epidemic of data breaches.
This failure stems from a flawed conceptual model that places a persistent focus on perimeter security and monitoring access control rather than the data itself.
The average total cost per data breach in the U.S. reached a record $10.22 million, up 9% from the previous year. The average cost per lost record reached $308.
92% of organizations increased data protection budgets in 2025, with an average increase of 6.6% year-over-year.
U.S. enterprises, in particular, reported privacy and compliance spend growth of 71% over the prior 12 months — primarily driven by concerns around AI regulation.
Large enterprises (1,000+ employees) often allocate $9–15 million annually on cybersecurity, including data protection. Median spending on data/privacy for substantial organizations (10K+ employees) is around $3.9 million per year.
The Solution
Kirin’s Approach
Kirin makes all data files self-protecting, intelligent, and self-aware — irrespective of format or type.
Policy-Embedded Data Files
Data owners infuse policy and protection rules inside the data file itself. Protection travels with the data no matter where it resides — in transit or at rest.
Real-Time Dynamic Access Control
Dynamically enforce and modify — in real time — access and permission control including user identity, network or geolocation, time of day, and device type or device ID, across all copies.
Windows + Azure Cloud Platform
The solution consists of a Windows OS client agent capability and an Azure cloud service API platform deployable into FedRAMP clouds.
Enterprise SIEM & SOAR Integration
Kirin is positioned to capitalize on the rapidly evolving global data security market, expected to reach tens of billions of dollars. Its focus on data-centric security aligns with the industry’s shift toward zero-trust and advanced data protection.
Market Opporunity
A Massive and Growing Market
$575B
Global data protection market by 2032 (from $165B in 2024)
16.89%
CAGR for the global data protection market through the forecast period
180ZB+
Unstructured data projected to surpass 180 Zettabytes in CY2026
Costly Attacks Continue to Grow
- Data exfiltration exploits surged by 39% in 2023
- Data exfiltration market growing at CAGR of 9.7% to 14.7%through 2031
- Global average data exfiltration cost in 2024 surged to $4.45M per incident
Unstructured Data Explosion
- Growing at an annual rate of >55%
- Represents 80–90% of all new corporate data
- Recent advances in AI are accelerating this trend
- Tracking to surpass 180ZB in CY2026
Business Model
Business Model & Use Case Development
Build the Base Solution
The Kirin team has the prior experience and knowledge on how to efficiently build an improved service model for self-protecting data applicable to many use cases. The investment reflects the ability to produce the platform.
Use Case Development
Working with investment partners, Kirin will develop the primary user stories and additional features needed to support a limited set of specific use cases. These will be jointly evaluated to compile a detailed GTM/financial model.
Target Segments
Target Segments & Use Cases
Datacenter MSSPs
Over 17,500 MSSPs in the United States alone, each supporting an average of 12,500 users. Kirin’s services are designed from the ground up to be readily deployable into an MSSP operating environment — creating profit for both the MSSP and Kirin.
Agentic AI Deployment
CISOs are blocking AI agent deployment because perimeters cannot govern autonomous intent. Under CA SB-53 and the 2026 EU AI Act, companies are now strictly liable for “Model Drift” leading to data exfiltration. Kirin protected content can leverage AI models to discern agent intent and enforce policy compliance.
Media & Entertainment
Data loss and theft cost the entertainment industry $75B annually. The most impactful threat is pre-release leakage. Kirin can protect all prerelease material and provides defense-in-depth against credential harvesting of released material.
INVESTMENT MODELS
Investment Opportunity
Offering an initial SAFE within May 2026 for up to $1,000,000 with a discount on the Round at $15,000,000 pre-money valuation.
Post first tranche, graduated options up to $10,000,000 at $40,000,000 pre-money valuation for extended development of product, platforms, sales and marketing, regulatory approvals, compliance, and specific use case enablement. $10,000,000 allows for 12-18 month runway leading to full commercial platform with 3 vertical revenue generating use case development.
COMPETITIVE POSITION
Kirin’s Competitive Advantage – Building Security into Data Itself
Competitive solutions provided by existing vendors rely upon an outdated medieval security model of castle walls and moats. The cyber industry’s current solutions:
Current Solutions are Outdated with Perimeter Models
Existing solutions rely on perimeter security, data access monitoring, and restricting data mobility to the vendor cloud. They are fundamentally reactive — once the perimeter is breached, all protection and control ceases.
No Control Outside the Perimeter
Existing solutions are unable to meet the business need to dynamically control data access once data leaves their control. Data owners should be able to grant, remove and control access when needed and withdrawing it when no longer required.
Limited Access Controls
Existing data policy mechanisms are too limited because they require attachment to corporate policy controls. These means that once the data leaves the perimeter, the controls cease to be effective. Data owners want to control access, read/write and edit permissions on any file of any type at any time — no matter where the data goes or where it is stored – no matter how many copies are made, forever, without requiring network or application level controls.
Fragile Integrations
Other vertical solutions support mobility but require fragile application integrations to access data, lack transparency, are hard to scale, and delay version upgrades. Self protecting data works at the DATA level, and is not reliant on application, network or transport controls. Security is embedded into data itself, allowing data itself to be self-protecting, intelligent and self reporting.
Kirin is the only solution able to maintain data protection dynamically, across all copies, inside and outside of the cloud perimeter in perpetuity. Moreover, it does so transparently and securely, without requiring application integration.
The Ask
Fundraising & Capital Deployment
$10M USD
Funding Ask · 15–18 Month Runway
Salaries / Benefits / Operations / Tools / IP Capture
$40M USD
Projected Pre-Money Valuation
Use of Funds
40%
Key product team: ~10 Developers, 4 Test Engineers, Program Manager, User Assistance
25%
Operations, Development Operations, and Security team (~7 headcount)
25%
Hardware, Environments, and Toolsets — OCS, Veracode, 3rd Party Audit
10%
Legal — IP, Registration, Defensibility, and Restrictions
Exit Strategy
Exit Strategy
Initial Investor Use Cases
Early investors have the opportunity to co-develop targeted use cases aligned with their portfolio and industry needs, creating direct value while accelerating Kirin’s go-to-market strategy.
Potential Acquirers
Kirin’s proprietary technology and growing customer base make it an attractive acquisition target for major enterprise security, cloud, and technology companies seeking to strengthen their data protection portfolios.
M&A Comparables
The cybersecurity M&A market remains highly active, with data-centric security companies commanding strong multiples. Kirin’s unique technology positions it favorably against recent comparable transactions.
The Team
Leadership Team
Deep expertise from Fortune 10 companies, major financial institutions, and leading technology firms.
Elliot Lewis
Chief Executive Officer
Leadership extending from startups to Fortune 10 companies, leading end-to-end functions:
- Dell Software Group: Distinguished Engineer & Chief Security Architect
- Cisco Systems: Director, Advanced Services, Security & Identity Products
- CISO, Merrill Lynch
- Senior Security Architect, Microsoft Security Center of Excellence
Sean Thurston
Chief Operations Officer
Demonstrated history of working on and solving hard security and compliance problems.
Held key roles defining security architecture and governance at Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, managing both operational budgets and personnel, including acquisitions and integrations.
Shai Guday
Chief Product Officer
Proven product leadership track record of innovation across challenging technology sectors.
Partner at Microsoft for 21 years, leading product groups on mobile devices, supercomputing, and scalable cloud platforms.
Jack Weinstein
Chief FINANCIAL Officer
20 years’ experience in corporate finance and investor relations. His experience includes serving as either permanent or interim CFO for; a real estate fund with a $1.8 billion portfolio, a private equity group with $3.5 billion in assets under management, and a venture capital group founded by a Shark Tank investor. Raised over $100M in investor funds for various companies.
Ready to Invest in the Future of Data Security?
Join us in building the next generation of enterprise data protection. Three investment tiers available — from $1.5M POC to $10M Production V1.
Step 1
Initial Engagement
Connect with our team to discuss your investment interest and review the full data room.
Step 2
Due Diligence
Review technical architecture, financials, and IP portfolio. Meet the leadership team in depth.
Step 3
Partnership & Close
Select your investment tier, co-develop target use cases, and join us as a founding investor.
This document contains forward-looking statements, estimates, and financial projections based on Kirin’s current business strategy, market conditions, and management’s expectations. These statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied.
The information provided is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities, nor should it be construed as financial, investment, or legal advice. Potential investors should conduct their own due diligence and seek independent professional advice before making any investment decisions.
Investing in early-stage AI-driven SaaS companies like Kirin involves significant risks, including liquidity risks, market volatility, regulatory uncertainties, and operational challenges. There is no guarantee that the company will be able to secure future funding under favorable terms. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
This document is the proprietary property of Kirin Inc. and is provided on a strictly confidential basis. It may not be copied, shared, or distributed without explicit written permission. All trademarks, trade names, and logos contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.