Cybersecurity is a hot topic these days – and for good reason.
Investment in cybersecurity companies has increased more than thirteenfold since 2011, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a record year for cybersecurity with over $7.8 billion invested in the industry globally. Just over halfway into 2021, 2020’s record has already been blown out of the water, with another $11 billion invested thus far.
In 2020, investment in the global cybersecurity industry was 10 percent higher for angel, seed, and early-stage rounds – totaling 45 percent – than the global market, which recorded 35 percent of overall investment in early rounds. This larger percentage of investment in early-stage funding rounds signals an industry ripe with growth potential and sales opportunities.
TL;DR: Early-stage cybersecurity venture funding = new sales opportunities for you.
To help you get a jump on the competition and spot the next big “whale” (a sales opportunity much larger than your average prospect) before everyone else does, we utilized Crunchbase data to highlight key buying signals at cybersecurity companies with recent early-stage rounds of $50 million-plus that might just be on their way to unicorn status (companies valued above $1 billion), if they aren’t there already.
*Find more information about the cybersecurity industry’s growth in Crunchbase’s latest report: The Rise of Global Cybersecurity Venture Funding.
Recent early-stage cybersecurity venture funding rounds
In 2020, nine cybersecurity companies raised early-stage rounds (Series A or B) of at least $50 million. Just over halfway into 2021, 12 additional cybersecurity companies joined this exclusive list with over $50 million in Series A or B funding rounds.
Tip: Here’s the list of funding rounds for 2021 thus far.
Companies receiving large investments in early stages are typically going into hyper-growth mode and focusing on taking their business to the next level, including growing their employee base, hiring new leadership, buying new software and tools, and expanding into new markets. If the following 22 companies aren’t already on your radar, they should be.
1. Transmit Security
Transmit Security offers risk management and passwordless identity solutions, including an authentication experience through a mobile biometric authenticator. The company’s massive $543 million Series A round raised in June 2021 easily cements its status as a unicorn.
- Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
- Funding Round: $543 million Series A raised in June 2021
- Number of Employees: 251–500
2. StackPath
StackPath is an edge computing and content delivery platform with edge locations in major internet exchanges around the globe. The company’s latest $216 million Series B round brings its total funding to $396 million.
- Headquarters: Dallas, Texas
- Funding Round: $216 million Series B raised in March 2020
- Number of Employees: 251–500
3. Orca Security
Orca Security provides security and compliance for Amazon Web Services, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The company’s recent $210 million Series C round secures its title as a newly minted unicorn.
- Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
- Funding Round: $210 million Series C raised in March 2021
- Number of Employees: 101–250
4. iboss
iboss is a cloud security company that provides network security as a service delivered in the cloud, and as a complete SaaS offering. The company’s service was specifically designed to secure distributed organizations.
- Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
- Funding Round: $145 million Series B raised in January 2021
- Number of Employees: 101–250
5. Wiz
Wiz is a cloud visibility solution that provides a complete view of security risks across clouds, containers, and workloads. The company’s 2021 funding, including a $130 million Series B raised in March 2021, followed by a $120 million Series B raised in May 2021, secured Wiz its title as a unicorn.
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Funding Round: $120 million Series B raised in May 2021
- Number of Employees: 51–100
6. Aura
Aura is a mission-driven technology company dedicated to creating a safer internet for everyone. Aura believes that people should be able to live with the peace of mind that their identity, online accounts and devices will remain safe, private and protected, no matter where they go. Aura has raised a total of approximately $450 million to date from investors including Accel, General Catalyst, Warburg Pincus, and WndrCo.
- Headquarters:Burlington, Massachusetts
- Funding Round:$150 million Series E raised in June 2021
- Number of Employees:251-500
7. CYE
CYE provides organizational security assessments, revealing complete attack routes and building optimized mitigation plans. Founded in 2012, the company’s recent $120 million Series A will be used to expand its growth in the global market.
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Funding Round: $120 million Series A raised in February 2021
- Number of Employees: 51–100
8. ActiveFence
ActiveFence is a computer software provider that specializes in detecting malicious content such as hate speech, disinformation campaigns, fraud, and other harmful activities online, at scale.
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Funding Round: $100 million Series B raised in July 2021
- Number of Employees: 101–250
9. 1Password
1Password is a secure and convenient password manager that allows businesses and families a safe way to share passwords, credit cards, and documents. The company’s recent $100 million Series B round was led again by its Series A investor Accel.
- Headquarters: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Funding Round: $100 million Series B raised in July 2021
- Number of Employees: 251–500
10. Beyond Identity
Beyond Identity is a passwordless identity management solution that replaces passwords with secure certificates. Founded in April 2020, the company has already raised $105 million. They intend to use their latest $75 million Series B round to increase their global footprint.
- Headquarters: New York, New York
- Funding Round: $75 million Series B raised in December 2020
- Number of Employees: 101–250
11. SentiLink
SentiLink is an identity verification technology company that helps in detecting and blocking synthetic identities and other connected fraudulent applications. The company’s recent $70 million Series B will be used to grow its product line and hire new employees.
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California
- Funding Round: $70 million Series B raised in August 2021
- Number of Employees: 11–50
12. Veriff
Veriff is an online identity verification company that protects businesses and their customers from online identity fraud. The company has hired new leadership and secured new partnerships following its recent $69 million Series B.
- Headquarters: Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
- Funding Round: $69 million Series B raised in April 2021
- Number of Employees: 251–500
13. FRISS
FRISS is a provider of analytics software for fraud, risk, and compliance for P&C insurers. The company currently serves insurers in over 40 countries.
- Headquarters: Utrecht, Netherlands
- Funding Round: €54.8 million ($65 million) Series B raised in August 2021
- Number of Employees: 101–250
14. Noname Security
Noname Security is a security platform that allows enterprises to see and secure managed and unmanaged APIs. The company’s recent $60 million Series B brings its total funding to $85 million, despite only emerging from stealth in December 2020.
- Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
- Funding Round: $60 million Series B raised in June 2021
- Number of Employees: 51–100
15. ReversingLabs
ReversingLabs delivers threat detection and analysis solutions to help organizations combat the latest generation of intelligent cyber attacks. According to the company’s press release, its $56 million Series B will “help meet the demand from developers and buyers of software to identify and defend against complex threats and attempts to tamper with software products.”
- Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Funding Round: $56 million Series B raised in August 2021
- Number of Employees: 51–100
16. Alkira
Alkia is a network cloud company that offers integrated network and security services when transitioning to the cloud. Microsoft recently included Alkira in its Microsoft for Startups program, which will provide the company with access to technical, sales, and marketing resources.
- Headquarters: San Jose, California
- Funding Round: $54 million Series B raised in October 2020
- Number of Employees: 51–100
17. deepwatch
deepwatch provides intelligence-driven managed cybersecurity services to minimize, detect, and rapidly respond to perpetually evolving cyber-attacks and threats against organizations.
- Headquarters: Denver, Colorado
- Funding Round: $53 million Series B raised in October 2020
- Number of Employees: 101–250
18. Abnormal Security
Abnormal Security is an email security company that protects companies from targeted email attacks. It’s November 2020 Series B funding valued the company at $500 million. Abnormal Security claims that the increase in remote working in 2020 helped it achieve a three-times YoY increase in ARR.
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California
- Funding Round: $50 million Series B raised in November 2020
- Number of Employees: 101–250
19. JSonar
JSonar, a database security company that delivers a unified view of all database activity, was acquired by Imperva in late 2020.
- Headquarters: Waltham, Massachusetts
- Funding Round: $50 million Series A raised in June 2020
- Number of Employees: 51–100
20. Securiti
Securiti is an AI-powered PrivacyOps platform that automates functions needed for privacy compliance. The company recently announced an integration with cloud data platform Snowflake.
- Headquarters: San Jose, California
- Funding Round: $50 million Series B raised in January 2020 (the company also raised two new venture rounds in April and May 2021)
- Number of Employees: 101–250
21. Privacera
Privacera is a SaaS-based data security and governance platform that offers data sharing without compromising regulatory compliance. The company recently joined the Amazon Web Services Independent Software Vendor Accelerator program.
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California
- Funding Round: $50 million Series B raised in March 2021
- Number of Employees: 101–250
22. Persona
Persona offers a suite of fully automated verification components that enable businesses to build the right verification flow for each use case and customer. In the last year, the company has seen a 10-times YoY revenue increase.
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California
- Funding Round: $50 million Series B raised in May 2021
- Number of Employees: 51–100
Tip: See the full list of early-stage funding rounds for cybersecurity companies for 2021 so far.
This article includes funding rounds added to the Crunchbase dataset on or before August 5, 2021. Find more info about this year’s funding rounds in The Rise Of Global Cybersecurity Venture Funding report
