Three startups have been named finalists for the 2026 SINET Innovator award, one of cybersecurity's most-watched honours. The winner will be announced on October 8 at SINETNewYork.

The finalists are 7AI, Noma and Runlayer. For the first time in the programme's history, a single company will be elevated to the top honour instead of several.

The three presented live before a judging committee on October 7. One will be named the 2026 SINET Innovator.

7AI builds AI agents for security operations centres. Its platform covers alert triage, threat hunting, detection tuning and incident response.

Noma is an AI and agent security platform. It helps companies discover every AI agent across their systems, control what they can do, and stop dangerous behaviour.

Runlayer offers one platform for AI in the enterprise, covering models, skills, plugins and agents with built-in security and governance.

SINET also named 16 honorees to its 2026 SINET16 list, which recognises the most innovative early-stage cybersecurity companies.

SINET's mission is to accelerate cybersecurity innovation by connecting buyers, sellers and investors. The award is closely watched by venture capital firms.