Israeli cybersecurity startup Gutsy rebrands as Minimus

Minimus, a cybersecurity startup previously known as Gutsy, has officially launched with a focus on reducing application vulnerabilities through preventive measures.

The company was founded in late 2022 by Ben Bernstein, Dima Stopel, and John Morello, who co-founded Twistlock, which was later acquired by Palo Alto Networks for US$410 million.

In October 2023, Minimus secured US$51 million in seed funding from YL Ventures and Mayfield.

This launch occurs amid increased attention on software supply chain security, following incidents such as the SolarWinds breach and the Log4j vulnerability.

🔗 Source: Calcalist

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Serial founders demonstrate the value of experience in cybersecurity innovation

The Minimus founding team showcases how cybersecurity expertise translates across ventures, building on their previous success with Twistlock.

Palo Alto Networks acquired Twistlock for $410 million in 2019, validating the team’s container security approach that served over 300 customers, including more than 25% of Fortune 100 companies 1.

The founders—Ben Bernstein, Dima Stopel, and John Morello—have shifted from their previous focus on detecting and responding to container vulnerabilities to now preventing them entirely with Minimus.

This pattern of founders applying lessons from previous ventures to solve persistent industry challenges demonstrates why investors placed a $51 million bet on their new approach.

Their expertise has evolved from securing containers after deployment to minimizing the attack surface from the start, reflecting a deeper understanding of fundamental security challenges in cloud-native environments.

2️⃣ Software supply chain security has evolved from reactive to proactive approaches

Minimus’s approach represents a significant shift in how the industry is addressing vulnerabilities, moving beyond the traditional detect-and-patch model.

The scale of vulnerability management has become overwhelming, with over 38,000 vulnerabilities reported in 2024 alone, making it increasingly difficult for organizations to keep pace with patching 2.

Major supply chain attacks like SolarWinds and Log4j have demonstrated the devastating impact of vulnerabilities in widely used components, forcing organizations to reconsider their security strategies 3.