💰 Security, Funded #189 - Cool Quantum Croissants

Get cybersecurity market and intelligence insights, including key trends and industry analysis, for the week of April 7, 2025.

Author

Mike Privette
April 14, 2025 • Reading Time: 15 minutes

Security, Funded by Return on Security, is a weekly analysis of economic activity in the cybersecurity market. This week’s issue is brought to you by Specops, Cydea, and Harmonic Security.


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Hey there,

I hope you had a great weekend, and Happy World Quantum Day to all those who celebrate (or pretend to understand it 🥴).

Two quick things up top today:

The Uncertainty Era
Over the weekend, I sent a special email to OG Supporters and backers of Return on Security with a deeper dive into how tariffs and global volatility might ripple through cybersecurity. I laid out some early-stage counter-signals and what I think comes next for funding, GTM, and segment-specific pressure. Based on the feedback so far, I’ll probably do more of those.

🆕 Ask Return on Security
I’ve been asking you all questions for over a year, and now it’s time to flip the script. Got a question about the state of the cyber market, a stealth move worth watching, or something interesting about a company, investor, or segment? I’m now taking anonymous submissions that might shape future issues
Submit yours here → https://forms.gle/vHTQsr2RKMquNjcq7

Fire away on those questions, and let’s get these parallel quantum states of various bread, people! 😤 👊 🥐 

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😎 Vibe Check

Make sure to click on the options below to vote in this week’s poll, whether you’re a practitioner, founder, or investor!

What’s the most effective way a security leader can build influence internally?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Last issue’s vibe check:
What’s the strongest early signal a security tool will succeed in your org?
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ A clear internal champion (14)
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Easy integration with existing stack (20)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Quick time-to-value (days, not weeks) (32)
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Visible support from leadership (20)

86 Votes (newsletter + LinkedIn 🆕 )

I really like running this poll on both the newsletter and LinkedIn. You get a similar distribution of answers but slightly different focus points, leading to better nuance.

It’s clear from the people who voted last week that having demonstrable evidence of quick wins, cohesiveness with the current stack, and the leadership required to make the change management efforts stick in an organization can make or break bringing in a new security tool.

Some of the top comments from last week’s vibe check:

Quick - “If we can't get a tool up and running in 2 days, it can GTFO, and the vendor needs to go back to the drawing board. Even a SIEM should be at least functional on day 1.”

Internal Champion - "Unsurprisingly, it usually comes down to culture and change management. Ease of use and enablement are one thing, but you need buy-in on the problem you're trying to solve, some education on why the tool is the best choice for solving that problem, and removing friction. Having a champion with a cultural change management perspective is worth its weight in gold..."

💰 Market Summary

Private Markets

  • 16 companies from 4 countries raised $404.4M across 14 unique product categories

  • 6 companies were acquired or had a merger event across 4 unique product categories

  • 100% of funding went to product-based cybersecurity companies

Public Markets

  • No public cyber companies had an earnings report

  • Public market moves last week

The percentage change of major public cybersecurity stocks over the past week.

As of market close on April 11, 2025.

📸 YoY Snapshot

Rolling 12-week charts that compare funding and acquisitions weekly in a year-over-year (YoY) view between 2024 and 2025.

A line chart showing how total cybersecurity funding and total events changed compared to the previous week and year over year.

Click to see a larger version

Another big week in funding as we ramp up to conference season. Last week marked the tenth week of the year with over $100 million in cybersecurity funding raised.

A line chart showing how total cybersecurity M&A activity changed compared to the previous week and year over year.

Click to see a larger version

Acquisitions also continued at a steady clip, driven by services-based businesses.

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☎️ Earnings Reports

Earnings reports from last week: None

Macro Context:

  • The US paused and dropped down tariffs to 10% but reupped on China tariffs to 145% (with tons of exclusions).

  • China clapped back with even more tariffs on the US and globally halting natural metals and minerals used to supply some 90% of the world with components to make things like electronics.

  • US consumer’s expectations for a recession in the year ahead surged to 6.7%, the highest reading since 1981.

Earning reports to watch this coming week: None

🧩 Funding By Product Category

A bar chart breakdown of cybersecurity funding amounts by product category for the previous week.

Click to see a larger version

  • $160.0M for Secure Remote Access across 1 deal

  • $56.0M for Fraud and Financial Crime Protection across 1 deal

  • $37.5M for Network Security across 1 deal

  • $31.2M for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security across 2 deals

  • $30.0M for Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) across 1 deal

  • $28.5M for Security Services Delivery Platform (SSDP) across 1 deal

  • $21.5M for Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) across 2 deals

  • $18.0M for API Security across 1 deal

  • $10.0M for Security Operations across 1 deal

  • $6.8M for Smart Contract Security across 1 deal

  • $5.0M for Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) across 1 deal

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

  • An undisclosed amount for Identity and Access Management (IAM) across 1 deal

  • An undisclosed amount for Data Protection across 1 deal

🏢 Funding By Company

Product Companies:

Service Companies:

  • None

🌎 Funding By Country

A chart showing which countries raised the most in cybersecurity funding the previous week.

Click to see a larger version

  • $173.4M for the United States across 11 deals

  • $160.0M for Canada across 1 deal

  • $61.0M for Germany across 3 deals

  • $10.0M for France across 1 deal

🤝 Mergers & Acquisitions

A summary chart showing the number of M&A deals in cybersecurity the previous week.

Click to see a larger version

Product Companies:

  • Brighter AI, a United States-based sensitive and identifiable data redaction suite for images and videos, was acquired by Milestone Systems for an undisclosed amount. Brighter AI had previously raised $780.1K in funding. (more)

  • Zorus, a United States-based managed DNS filtering and security for MSPs and MSSPs, was acquired by DNSFilter for an undisclosed amount. Zorus had previously raised $9.0M in funding. (more)

Service Companies:

  • Computer Security Technology, a United Kingdom-based professional services firm focused on risk assessments and penetration testing, was acquired by Redsquid for an undisclosed amount. Computer Security Technology has not publicly disclosed any funding events. (more)

  • Onevinn, a Sweden-based professional services firm focused on cyber risk assessments and securing Microsoft environments, was acquired by Allurity for an undisclosed amount. Onevinn has not publicly disclosed any funding events. (more)

  • Shock I.T. Support, a United States-based managed security services provider (MSSP), was acquired by Magna5 for an undisclosed amount. Shock I.T. Support has not publicly disclosed any funding events. (more)

  • The ZDL Group, a United Kingdom-based managed security services provider (MSSP), was acquired by The Cyberfort Group for an undisclosed amount. The ZDL Group has not publicly disclosed any funding events. (more)

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Data Methodology and Sources

  • All of the data is captured point-in-time from publicly available sources.

  • All financial figures are converted to U.S. dollars (USD) when collected.

  • Company country locations are pulled from publicly available sources.

  • Companies are categorized using our system at Return on Security, and we write all the company descriptions.

  • Sometimes, the details about deals, like who led the round, how much money was raised, or the deal stage, might get updated after the issue is first published.

  • Let us know if you spot any errors, and we’ll fix them.

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