💰 Security, Funded #163 - Get the Bag

Hey there,

I hope you had a great weekend and a happy end to Q3 for all those who celebrate! 🫡 

It’s also almost officially Spooky Season 🎃, and not just on the Halloween front. It’s also that final 90-day push to the end of the year where deals get made, budgets get spent (if you don’t use it, you lose it), and when people and companies alike get “serious” about their annual goals and targets.

Lettuce all get this bread, family! 🥬 🥖 

Onward to this week's issue.

😎 Vibe Check

Last issue’s vibe check:
With Q4 just around the corner, do you think we will see a cybersecurity company go IPO this year?
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤑 Yes (tell me who you think it'll be) (5)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🙅‍♀️ Not a chance (tell me why) (19)
24 Votes

80% of people who participated in the vibe check last week said there was no chance there would be a cyber IPO this year (or arguably another IPO if you count Rubrik). This wasn’t surprising to me, as I bet many companies are waiting to see how the US Presidential election plays out and to let some of the Wiz momentum pass them by. If the M&A climate strengthens in the US, 2025 could be a blockbuster year.

Some of the top comments from last week:

“Not a chance - I think people will wait until 2025 to see rates stabilize and the election buzz to calm down for more certainty in the market.”

“Yes - Expel”

“Not a chance - The market is still too volatile, but I would expect to see Wiz, Snyk, and maybe Netskope make a play in 2025.”

💰 Market Summary

📸 YoY Snapshot

The final week of September continues the high-volume pace for the month with lots of funding events. With Q3 (after today) officially over, the current total of $3.3 billion raised in this quarter is about 19% less than this same timeframe last year (unless someone does a YOLO round today 👀 ).

M&A transactions finished at about the monthly average count of events last week. Again, unless something huge happens today (and never say ‘never’ in the cyber industry), Q3 2024 is about 35% less on transaction volume than the same timeframe last year.

☎️ Earnings Reports

🧩 Funding By Product Category

• $70.0M for Security Orchestration and Automated Response (SOAR) across 1 deal

• $12.0M for Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) across 2 deals

• $7.0M for Threat & Vulnerability Management (TVM) across 1 deal

• $6.7M for Managed Detection and Response (MDR) across 1 deal

• $6.7M for Professional Services across 1 deal

• $4.5M for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Security across 1 deal

• $2.7M for Secure File Sharing across 1 deal

• $2.1M for Application Security Testing (AST) across 1 deal

• $1.8M for Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) across 1 deal

• $556.9K for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Privacy Assurance across 1 deal

• $167.1K for Penetration Testing across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Security Analytics across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Cybersecurity Program Management across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security across 1 deal

🏢 Funding By Company

• Torq, a United States-based no-code security automation platform, raised a $70.0M Series C from Evolution Equity Partners. (more)

• Tamnoon, a United States-based continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) platform, raised a $12.0M Series A from Bright Pixel. (more)

• Defectdojo, a United States-based security automation and vulnerability management platform, raised a $7.0M Series A from Aspenwood Ventures. (more)

• Enginsight, a Germany-based managed detection and response (MDR), raised a $6.7M Venture Round from UVC Partners. (more)

• Blackpanda, a Singapore-based professional services firm focused on cyber incident response and recovery, raised a $6.7M Series A from Gaw Capital Partners, Singtel Innov8, and WI Harper Group. (more)

• Bluebricks, an Israel-based cloud infrastructure security and remediation platform, raised a $4.5M Seed from Flint Capital and Glilot Capital Partners. (more)

• TrueScreen, an Italy-based secure data acquisition and sharing platform focused on data authenticity and lineage, raised a $2.7M Seed from Cysero. (more)

• Cytix, a United Kingdom-based continuous application security testing platform, raised a $2.1M Seed from Praetura Ventures. (more)

• Loom Security, a United States-based managed security services provider (MSSP) focused on cloud security, raised a $1.8M Seed. (more)

• CyberTide, a Germany-based AI privacy assurance platform for chatbot applications and foundational LLMs, received a $556.9K Grant from Investitionsbank Berlin.

• Pentra, a Romania-based automated pentesting and reporting platform, raised a $167.1K Pre-Seed from Early Game Ventures. (more)

• Aim Intelligence, a South Korea-based threat detection, red teaming, and security platform for AI models, raised an undisclosed Seed from Mashup Ventures. (more)

• Cyvatar.ai, a United States-based cybersecurity program management platform, raised an undisclosed Revenue-Based Financing round from Decathlon Capital Partners. (more)

• MegaVector, a China-based continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) platform, raised an undisclosed Venture Round from Shenzhen Capital Group.

• Query, a United States-based federated security analytics searching platform, raised an undisclosed Venture Round from Cisco Investments. (more)

🌎 Funding By Country

• $90.8M for the United States across 6 deals

• $7.3M for Germany across 2 deals

• $6.7M for Singapore across 1 deal

• $4.5M for Israel across 1 deal

• $2.7M for Italy across 1 deal

• $2.1M for the United Kingdom across 1 deal

• $167.1K for Romania across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for South Korea across 1 deal

• An undisclosed amount for China across 1 deal

🤝 Mergers & Acquisitions

• Clumio, a United States-based data backup and recovery as a service protecting against ransomware attacks, was acquired by CommVault for $47.0M. (more)

• CyberOwl, a United Kingdom-based cybersecurity analytics platform for maritime Internet of Things (IoT) assets, was acquired by DNV for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Featurespace, a United Kingdom-based anti-fraud and payment security platform, was acquired by Visa for an undisclosed amount. (more) (Not to be outdone by Mastercard)

• inversion6, a United States-based managed security and professional services firm, was acquired by TRG for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• NetGuardians, a Switzerland-based fraud and financial crimes prevention platform, was acquired by Summa Equity for an undisclosed amount. (more)

📚 Great Reads

• Cybersecurity Workforce Woes - Chris Hughes looks at the current cybersecurity workforce challenges, the factors involved, and why things might not be what they seem.

• *Uncover hidden risks in your environment - Get a free, software health report from ThreatLocker®. Identify unapproved software, shadow IT, and potential threats, and learn how to harden your IT security.

• 300 Billion Emails, Infinite Risk: The Evolution of Email Security - Email security is still a hot mess in 2024, despite all the fancy tech and billions invested. Phishing and business email compromise are still absolutely dominating, and it's time for the email security market to change.

• Cyber Thoughts Podcast - I joined the Cyber Thoughts Podcast with Lucas Nelson from Lytical Ventures, and we covered highlights from Black Hat and DEF CON, the evolution of AI in cybersecurity, and the importance of staying ahead of emerging threats.

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🧪 Labs

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