💰 Security, Funded #151 - From Spain with Vermouth

Hey there,

I hope you had a great weekend and a nice US July 4th holiday or celebrating/crying over election day in the UK and France. 😱 

While it was an eventful week on the political front in many countries, it was predictably quieter on the investment and M&A front.

So what did I do? As an American living in the UK, I did the only logical thing to celebrate: I went to Spain and drank vermouth.

10/10 would recommend doing. 🇪🇸 🍹 

In other news, Return on Security crossed 10,000 subscribers last week after sending the 150th issue! I’m beyond excited to hit these milestones and super motivated to keep on growing for you all, and thank you again for being here.

Onward to this week's issue.

😎 Vibe Check

Last issue’s vibe check:
Who do you think will "win" the AI Security game?
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🅾️ OpenAI (7)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Ⓜ️ Microsoft (21)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🧠 Google (7)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🍎 Apple (7)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🔮 Other (tell me) (6)
48 Votes

This was a fun vibe check from last week that generated a ton of comments. While most people believed that Microsoft would “win” the AI game, I was really surprised to see the rest so evenly split. This is a fast-moving topic, and right now, I’m in the Microsoft camp as well.

Also, shoutout to all the AI Security startups that wrote their company name into the “Other” comment response. Shooters shoot their shots. 😂 👏 

Some of the top comments from last week:

“[Google has] the data to train the LLMs- will most likely be the first to achieve AGI as well.”

“[Microsoft] Copilot seems to be making lots of inroads into helping customers ramp up quickly and seems like the MSSPs are utilizing it as well.”

“There is no winning in the AI security game.”

💰 Market Summary

📸 YoY Snapshot

Last week was a very quiet and predictable week on the funding front. We saw the same thing happen last year (and the year before). Now is when the industry begins to push, leading up to Black Hat USA in August.

Still an eventful week on the M&A front, even with the holidays and elections. There is still a strong desire for late-stage companies to acquire the talent and capabilities of proven startups, and services businesses still dominate.

🤙 Earnings Reports

🧩 Funding By Product Category

• $16.2M for Internet of Things (IoT) Security across 1 deal

• $5.0M for Blockchain Security across 1 deal

• $2.5M for Security and Compliance Automation across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Secrets Management across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Operational Technology (OT) Security across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Email Security across 1 deal

🏢 Funding By Company

• Exein, an Italy-based firmware and Internet of Things (IoT) security platform, raised a $16.2M Series B from 33N Ventures.

• Mamori, a Taiwan-based vulnerability detection platform for Web3 applications, raised a $5.0M Seed from Blockchain Capital. (more)

• GovSky, a United States-based security and compliance automation for US government frameworks like CMMC and NIST, raised a $2.5M Seed from Peterson Ventures, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and SaaS Ventures. (more)

• Abnormal Security, a United States-based email security company, raised an undisclosed Venture Round at a $5 billion valuation from Insight Partners. (more)

• MicroSec, a Singapore-based operational technology (OT) security platform, raised an undisclosed Non-Equity Assistance from AcceliCITY powered by Leading Cities.

• Tide Foundation, an Australia-based data sharding and secrets management platform, raised an undisclosed Non-Equity Assistance from AcceliCITY powered by Leading Cities.

🌎 Funding By Country

• $16.2M for Italy across 1 deal

• $5.0M for Taiwan across 1 deal

• $2.5M for United States across 2 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Singapore across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Australia across 1 deal

🤝 Mergers & Acquisitions

• Combitech Norway, a Norway-based professional services firm focused on cloud security and penetration testing, was acquired by Telenor Cyberdefence for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Diverto, a Croatia-based managed security services provider (MSSP), was acquired by Marlink for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Noetic Cyber, a United States-based cyber asset management and controls platform, was acquired by Rapid7 for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Secure Enterprise Engineering, a United States-based professional services firm focused on security engineering, was acquired by SIXGEN for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Wallet Guard, a United States-based Web3 transaction fraud protection browser extension, was acquired by Consensys for an undisclosed amount. (more)

📚 Great Reads

• Lazy Work, Good Work - The importance of strategic decisions and work has never been higher in these AI-fueled times.

• The Global AI Arms Race - This post explores the dynamics of AI development, the role of government regulations, and the ethical considerations that must guide this rapidly evolving field.

• You could learn a lot from a CIO with a $17B IT budget - A conversation about planning, resiliency, AI, and strategy with the CIO from one of the world’s largest banks.

_{*A message from our sponsor}

🧪 Labs

It’s all about framing things up