Emily Heath

Background

Emily Heath is a General Partner at Cyberstarts, the Israeli cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm founded by Gili Raanan ¹. She was appointed to the role in March 2023 ²³. Originally from Manchester, England, Heath began her career as a Police Detective in the UK Financial Crimes Unit, where she led investigations into international investment fraud, money laundering, and large-scale identity theft, running joint investigations with the FBI, SEC, and London’s Serious Fraud Office ⁴⁵.

Heath transitioned from law enforcement into corporate cybersecurity, holding CISO and IT leadership roles at MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, and Beachbody LLC in southern California ⁴⁵. She then served as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at AECOM, a Fortune 500 architecture, engineering, and construction firm, where she led global information security, regulatory compliance, and risk programs ⁴⁶. From approximately February 2017 to October 2019, she was Vice President and CISO at United Airlines in Chicago ⁶.

In October 2019, DocuSign appointed Heath to the newly created role of Senior Vice President and Chief Trust and Security Officer, where she oversaw cybersecurity, physical security, and customer trust functions and chaired the company’s ESG Committee ⁶. She served at DocuSign until joining Cyberstarts.

Heath was already an active member of Cyberstarts’ Sunrise Community and a board member of portfolio company Wiz prior to her appointment as General Partner ²³. She currently serves on the boards of Gen Digital (NASDAQ: GEN, formerly NortonLifeLock), Wiz, and LogicGate ⁴⁵⁷.

She has received multiple industry recognitions including the CSO Magazine CSO50 Awards (multiple years), CSO Magazine Hall of Fame, Crain’s Chicago Top Tech 50 (2018), and a Global Leadership Award (2023) ⁴.

Note: As of early 2026, Heath’s LinkedIn profile lists her current role as “Stealth,” and she is no longer listed on the Cyberstarts team page, though her individual profile page on the Cyberstarts website remains live and she is listed as General Partner at Cyberstarts for London Tech Week 2026 ⁴⁸. Her exact current status at Cyberstarts is unclear.

Stated Thesis

(Self-reported: These represent what Heath says publicly about her investing approach. See Inferred Thesis for analysis of actual investment behavior.)

Heath has described her approach as rooted in her experience as a buyer of cybersecurity products, not a builder. She has stated: “My passion has always been to help others and empower creative and diverse leaders to drive change” ².

On Israeli cybersecurity talent, Heath has said: “In my opinion, the best talent in cyber is in Israel. There is an entrepreneurial spirit here that seems to be welded into Israelis during their military service” ⁹. She has praised the humility of Israeli founders: “The entrepreneurs here are like sponges and it is not easy to build such a level of humility and openness. Most of the time people are really stuck on their ideas and just want to build, build, build” ⁹.

On valuations, Heath has expressed a preference for discipline: “I’m not in favor of high valuation levels. I think the entrepreneurs need to earn the value over time, it spurs them on to build better products” ⁹.

On product strategy, Heath has warned against “CISO fatigue” — security leaders buying products they do not fully use: “I’ve heard a lot from my colleagues about products they buy and end up not using a third or even half of them. If you don’t use 80% of the product’s capabilities, that means we don’t need it” ⁹.

On AI and cybersecurity, Heath has stated: “Some of the cyber solutions will have to be reinvented to remain relevant. It’s scary to think how deep the threats could be in the world of AI” ⁹.

At Cyberstarts, Heath’s stated responsibilities include advising early-stage founders on product-market fit, overseeing the Sunrise Program, and managing Cyberstarts’ network of CISO advisors ²³.

Inferred Thesis

Heath’s investment activity at Cyberstarts is not individually attributable — Cyberstarts invests as a firm rather than disclosing which partner led specific deals. The following analysis reflects the firm-level portfolio that Heath has been part of since March 2023, combined with her personal board seats and public statements.

Sector focus: 100% cybersecurity. Every Cyberstarts portfolio company operates in cybersecurity or closely adjacent security infrastructure. Within that, the portfolio shows concentration in cloud security (Wiz, Upwind), identity and access management (Transmit, Oasis, Savvy), application security (Bionic, Legit, Dazz), data security (Cyera, Trail), and security analytics/operations (Vega, Avalor) ¹⁰.

Stage distribution: Cyberstarts invests primarily at seed stage, with follow-on capability through its Opportunity Funds. Of the firm’s 24 verified portfolio companies, the majority entered at seed ¹⁰¹¹.

Board-level involvement: Heath personally sits on the boards of Wiz (cloud security, acquired by Google for $32B) and Legit Security (application security), both Cyberstarts portfolio companies, plus Gen Digital (NASDAQ: GEN, consumer cybersecurity) and LogicGate (GRC) as independent director roles ⁴⁵⁷.

Buyer perspective as differentiator: Unlike most cybersecurity VCs who come from technical or financial backgrounds, Heath’s career as a Fortune 100 CISO gives her direct buyer-side experience. Her stated focus on “CISO fatigue” and product utilization rates suggests she evaluates startups through the lens of enterprise procurement decisions rather than purely technical novelty ⁹.

Geographic focus: Cyberstarts is Israel-headquartered with a strong bias toward Israeli-founded cybersecurity companies, though portfolio companies typically establish US headquarters for go-to-market ¹⁰¹².

Co-investor patterns: Cyberstarts frequently co-invests with Accel, Redpoint, CRV, and Lightspeed in later rounds of its portfolio companies ¹³.

Sample size limitation: Heath joined as GP in March 2023. Without individual deal attribution, it is not possible to separate her personal investment decisions from the broader Cyberstarts portfolio.

Portfolio

The following are Cyberstarts portfolio companies. Individual deal attribution to Heath is not publicly available; these represent the firm’s portfolio during and after her tenure as GP (March 2023 onward). Board seats held by Heath are noted.

Note: Most founding/investment years are approximate based on company founding dates. Cyberstarts typically invests at or near founding. This table represents the full firm portfolio, not solely Heath’s individual deals. Exits include: Wiz (Google, $32B), Noname (Akamai, $450M), Bionic (CrowdStrike, ~$350M), Axis (HPE, ~$500M), Avalor (Zscaler), Dazz (acquired), Trustdome (Zscaler), Savvy (SailPoint), Oasis (acquired), Trail (Cyera), Blockaid (acquired), Trustmi (acquired), Transmit (acquired) ¹⁰¹².

In Their Own Words

“I am so honored to join Cyberstarts and be able to work alongside the brightest minds in the cybersecurity industry.” — Emily Heath, on joining Cyberstarts as General Partner, Calcalist, March 2023 ³

“My passion has always been to help others and empower creative and diverse leaders to drive change.” — Emily Heath, GlobeNewsWire press release, March 2023 ²

“In my opinion, the best talent in cyber is in Israel. There is an entrepreneurial spirit here that seems to be welded into Israelis during their military service on the one hand, but on the other hand Israeli entrepreneurs know how to listen and learn.” — Emily Heath, Calcalist interview, 2024 ⁹

“I’m not in favor of high valuation levels. I think the entrepreneurs need to earn the value over time, it spurs them on to build better products.” — Emily Heath, Calcalist interview, 2024 ⁹

“I’ve heard a lot from my colleagues about products they buy and end up not using a third or even half of them. If you don’t use 80% of the product’s capabilities, that means we don’t need it.” — Emily Heath, on “CISO fatigue,” Calcalist interview, 2024 ⁹

“Some of the cyber solutions will have to be reinvented to remain relevant. It’s scary to think how deep the threats could be in the world of AI.” — Emily Heath, Calcalist interview, 2024 ⁹

“People don’t like what they don’t trust, and they don’t trust what they don’t understand. So, communication and transparency” are essential. — Emily Heath, on her approach to security leadership, PRNewswire/DocuSign press release, 2019 ⁶

On Wiz: “They came to the market at an amazing time with amazing products. They listened to the market, what people really needed.” — Emily Heath, Calcalist interview, 2024 ⁹

“The fact that you can switch it on and the product speaks for itself, with no integration needed, is fantastic.” — Emily Heath, on Wiz’s product, Wiz Blog, 2022 ⁷

What Founders Say

Lior Simon, General Partner at Cyberstarts, said of Heath: “Emily brings unmatched experience as an early adopter and innovator of modern-day cybersecurity solutions and has a true understanding of how to navigate critical entrepreneurial challenges” ². He also said: “Having worked with Emily for several years, I’m excited to welcome her into a larger role and share her kind-hearted, empathetic nature with our team and portfolio companies” ².

No independently sourced founder testimonials from portfolio company founders about working with Heath were found. The quotes above are from a Cyberstarts partner, not portfolio founders.

Connections

• Board member, Wiz — cloud security company acquired by Google for $32B; Cyberstarts portfolio company ⁷
• Board member, Gen Digital (NASDAQ: GEN) — formerly NortonLifeLock; appointed January 2021 alongside Sherrese Smith ⁵
• Board member, LogicGate — governance, risk, and compliance platform ⁵
• Board member, Legit Security — application security; Cyberstarts portfolio company ⁸
• Former SVP & Chief Trust & Security Officer, DocuSign (2019–~2022) ⁶
• Former VP & CISO, United Airlines (2017–2019) ⁶
• Former VP & CISO, AECOM (~2013–2017) ⁵⁶
• Former Police Detective, UK Financial Crimes Unit — led joint investigations with FBI, SEC, London Serious Fraud Office ⁵
• Speaker, London Tech Week 2026 ⁴
• Speaker, Bloomberg Technology Summit London 2023 ¹⁵
• Speaker, RSA Conference ⁸

Sources