Cybersecurity

The proliferation of digital technology has accelerated the pace of cyberattacks worldwide over the years. As a result, the cybersecurity industry has been experiencing rapid growth. In the onslaught of COVID-19, cybersecurity has become urgent and prevalent nowadays. It also gives the rise of new crops of cybersecurity startups, luring huge funding from big investors. The Crunchbase report shows, the total cybersecurity investment was valued at US$7.8 billion in 2020. In the first quester of 2021, the global cybersecurity investment recorded more than US$3.7 billion, outpacing the US$2.3 billion for the first quarter last year.

While cybersecurity has been a buzzword in tech for years, here’s the list of the 10 biggest cybersecurity funding raised in 2021 so far.

Lacework

Amount Raised: US$525 million

Transaction type: Series D

Lead investor(s): Sutter Hill and Altimeter Capitol

Lacework, an end-to-end cloud security start-up has announced that the company has secured US$525 million in a Series D funding round, after reporting massive revenue growth during a year when demand for cloud security services boomed. Founded in 2015, Lacework software targets security gaps in threat detection, behavioral anomaly detection, and also aims to ensure cloud compliance across AWS, GCP, Azure, and Kubernetes services. The company plans to use the new proceeds for product development, sales and market, and international expansion, especially into Europe.

Snyk

Amount Raised: US$300 Million

Transaction Type: Series E

Key Investor(s): Accel and Tiger Global

Snyk, a cybersecurity company that develops security analysis tools used to identify open-source vulnerabilities, secured US$300 million in a Series E round. The round, which brings the company’s valuation at US$4.7 billion, was co-led by Accel and Tiger Global with participation from existing investors Addition, Boldstart Ventures, Canaan Partners, Coatue, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Salesforce Ventures, Stripes and funds managed by BlackRock. New investors included Alkeon, Atlassian Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Geodesic Capital, Sands Capital Ventures, and Temasek.

Orca Security

Amount Raised: US$210 Million

Transaction Type: Series C

Lead Investor(s): Capital G, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, and Redpoint Ventures

Orca Security provides instant-on, workload-level security for AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The company has raised US$210 million in a Series C round, bringing its total to US$292.5 million and a US$1.2 billion valuation. The round was led by Capital G, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, and Redpoint Ventures.

Aqua Security

Amount Raised: US$135 Million

Transaction Type: Series E

Key Investor(s): ION Crossover Partners

Aqua Security, a developer of a cloud-native security platform, secured US$135 million in a Series E funding round. The round was led by ION Crossover Partners with broad participation from existing investors including M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund), Lightspeed Venture Partners, Insight Partners, TLV Partners, Greenspring Associates, and Acrew Capital. The financing round sends Aqua Security’s total valuation to US$1 billion.

Armis

Amount Raised: US$125 Million

Transaction Type: Series D

Key Investor(s): Brookfield Technology partners

Armis Security is an agentless IoT security solution that lets enterprises see and control any device or network. The company has raised US$125 million in a Series D funding round, doubling its post-money valuation to US$2 billion. The round was led by Brookfield Technology partners, with participation from existing investors Insight Partners, CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, and Georgian.

CYE

Amount Raised: US$100 Million

Transaction Type: Series A

Key Investor(s): EQT

CYE is an Israeli cybersecurity company that provides organizational security assessments, revealing complete attack routes and building optimized mitigation plans. Known for its cybersecurity optimization solutions, the company raised US$100 million in a Series A funding round led by EQT. The latest investment follows five years of partnership and will be used to continue CYE’s hyper-growth in the global market.

Axonious

Amount Raised: US$100 Million

Transaction Type: Series D

Key Investor(s): Stripes

Axonius is an asset inventory management platform that focuses on cybersecurity solutions and policies. The company has bagged US$100 million in a Series D financing round. Axonious has raised US$195 million in five funding rounds and has reached a US$1 billion valuation. The latest funding was led by Stripes with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, OpenView, Lightspeed, and Vertex.

PerimeterX

Amount Raised: US$57 Million

Transaction Type: Series D

Key Investor(s): AllianceBernstein

PerimeterX, a provider of web security service, secured US$57 million in Series D funding. The round was led by AllianceBernstein joined by new investors Stereo Capital, JS Capital, and Gold Arc Capital, along with participation from existing investors Adams Street Partners, Canaan Partners, DTCP, Scale Venture Partners, and Vertex Ventures US.

OwnBackup

Amount Raised: US$50 million

Transaction type: Series D

Lead investor(s): Insight Partners

OwnBackup is a leading cloud-to-cloud business continuity platform. The company has secured US$50 million in new funding led by Insight Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Vertex Ventures in a Series D funding. OwnBackup is a cloud backup firm centered on Salesforce. Com Inc. The company aims to prevent data loss and corruption resulting from human errors, malicious intent, integration errors, and rogue applications.

Identiq

Amount Raised: US$47 Million

Transaction Type: Series A

Key Investor(s): Entrée Capital, Insight Partners

Identiq, an Israel-based Anonymous Identity Validation Network service provider, secured US$47 million in its Series A financing round led by Insight Partners and Entrée Capital, with participation from Amdocs, Sony Innovation Fund by IGV, as well as existing investors Vertex Ventures Israel, Oryzn Capital and Slow Ventures. With the latest funds, Identiq will further accelerate its network growth, adding more members, each of which will improve the validation, quality, and coverage for all members.