The podcasts I regularly listen to are filled with advertisements for Virtual Private Networks (VPN). These are touted as a way to conduct secure sessions while working, for example, at a coffee house. Side benefits accrue, as well, for example watching your local streaming services while traveling abroad.
Not so fast, says security startup, Zeroport. Several years ago, cutbacks in the Israeli military led to an exodus of talent who founded cybersecurity companies. Most of those have been acquired by now. But here comes a new company also with ancestry with the Israeli military.
Its take on VPN-type security lies in eliminating Internet Protocol (IP) access. Its patented non-IP remote access technology addresses vulnerabilities that led to the CISA breach and countless VPN compromises.
From their news release of January 15, 2026:
Zeroport, a provider of non-IP secure remote access solutions, today announced it has raised $10 million in funding to accelerate global expansion and product development. The round was led by lool ventures, with participation from Clarim Ventures, CyberFuture (Backed by Elron Ventures), and Fusion Fund.
The company will use the funding to expand into North America and APAC markets, grow its team from 25 to 40 employees within a year, and enhance its flagship Fantom platform. The company already secures remote access for large organizations worldwide, demonstrating proven adoption across critical infrastructure, power, financial institutions, and government sectors. Zeroport addresses a $30 billion market growing at 20% annually.
The secure remote access market remains fundamentally broken as all existing solutions rely on IP-based communication that allows malware to penetrate networks and theft of sensitive internal data, a vulnerability so severe that even CISA, the U.S. cyber defense agency, was breached through its own VPN devices. This forces organizations to either remain completely offline or rely on complex & outdated IP-based remote access systems.
Zeroport’s Fantom platform pioneers the first non-IP-based secure remote access solution, using patented hardware that creates a physical non‐IP bridge at network boundaries. Inbound flows are physically limited to human interaction signals; outbound flows are display-only pixel streams. No packets can physically enter or leave the network; therefore, no malware can get in, and no data can get out.
This unique approach enables organizations to provide secure remote access for the first time, while maintaining complete visibility and control over sessions. This translates into cost savings by both replacing the complex legacy remote access stack and enabling remote operations in situations that were previously not possible. The technology has already demonstrated measurable impact, eliminating $5 million in annual travel costs for one systems integrator by enabling secure remote network monitoring & maintenance, previously impossible with traditional remote access tools.
The founding team brings together exceptional cybersecurity and hardware expertise from elite military intelligence backgrounds. Co-founder and CEO Joseph Gertz brings over 15 years of global business leadership and entrepreneurial experience. Co-founder and CTO Lavi Friedman and Zeroport’s COO, Rotem Kalmi, are both alumni of the IDF’s elite Unit 81 (Technological Intelligence Unit). The team’s unique perspective on remote connectivity challenges emerged when Friedman and Gertz met during reserve duty at Unit 81, where they identified critical gaps in secure remote access solutions.
Click on the Follow button at the bottom of the page to subscribe to a weekly email update of posts. Click on the mail icon to subscribe to additional email thoughts.
