🥂 Security, Funded #74 - Strong Finish, 2023 Predictions, and 2022 Year in Review

Hey there,

Welcome to 2023! I hope you had an excellent holiday season if you celebrated and a Happy New Year!

In this week's issue:

• Strong Finish

• 2023 Predictions

• 2022 Year In Review

I'll keep this light since we're just getting the year started off.

This week's issue will be a bit different than other weeks in that I will be covering a longer time period than normal. This issue will cover the final three weeks of December and how the year rounded out.

December 2022 in the cybersecurity industry had a similarly strong finish to December 2021, with several late-in-the-game funding rounds. There was a healthy mix of later-stage venture funding, debt financing rounds, and stealth launches with fresh seed rounds.

The later-stage ventures will bolster startups' cash flow to weather the macroeconomic storms carrying over into much of 2023, and the seed-stage deals will get the chance to build and grow on a less-than-ideal foundation. Those new startups that can find product market fit and traction in this environment will create operationally strong companies that will grow for years to come.

In case you missed it last week, I put out my first annual report called The State of Cybersecurity in 2022 and Trends and Predictions for 2023. It covers my observations from 2022 and makes some big predictions for what 2023 might hold from a market and innovation standpoint.

Also, don't forget that you're just one referral away from getting access to an Airtable database with all the curated links from every issue of Security, Funded.

Let's crush it this year! 💪 Onward to this week's issue.

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📊 Industry News

• Twitter in data-protection probe after '400 million' user details up for sale (more)

• Cyberattacks on Indian Govt Agencies More Than Doubled In 2022 (more)

• Okta’s GitHub source code stolen (more)

💰 Funding Summary

• 22 companies raised $494.5M across 16 unique product categories

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

🧩 Funding by Product Category

• $196.6M for Application Security

• $120.0M for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Security

• $50.0M for Cyber Insurance

• $45.0M for Fraud and Financial Crime Protection

• $34.0M for Threat Detection and Response (TDR)

• $17.2M for Data Protection

• $13.5M for Machine Learning (ML) Security

• $6.0M for Personal Cybersecurity

• $5.0M for API Security

• $3.8M for Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP)

• $3.1M for Privileged Access Management (PAM)

• $300.0K for Remote Browser Isolation

• An undisclosed amount for Threat Informed Defense (TID)

• An undisclosed amount for Threat & Vulnerability Management (TVM)

• An undisclosed amount for SaaS Security

• An undisclosed amount for Data Privacy

🏢 Funding By Company

• Snyk, a United States-based developer security platform for securing code, raised a $196.5M Series G from Qatar Investment Authority. (more)

• Aztec Protocol, a United Kingdom-based encrypted and privacy-focused Ethereum platform, raised a $100.0M Series B from Andreessen Horowitz. (more)

• CyberCube, a United States-based cyber insurance analytics platform, raised a $50.0M Series C from Morgan Stanley. (more)

• DataVisor, a United States-based fraud and financial crimes protection platform, raised a $40.0M Venture Round from Brighton Park Capital. (more)

• VMRay, a Germany-based threat detection and response platform, raised a $34.0M Series B from Tikehau Capital. (more)

• Nillion, a Switzerland-based decentralized secure storage platform for distributed ledger applications, raised a $20.0M Seed from Distributed Global. (more)

• Trilio, a United States-based data protection for container orchestration platforms, raised a $17.0M Series B from Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk. (more)

• Protect AI, a United States-based platform for securing your machine learning (ML) workloads, raised a $13.5M Seed from Acrew Capital and Boldstart Ventures. (more)

• SafeHouse, an Israel-based mobile app focused on consumer cybersecurity and privacy, raised a $6.0M Pre-Series A. (more)

• FireTail, a United States-based API security platform, raised a $5.0M Seed from Paladin Capital Group. (more)

• Pindrop, a United States-based voice authentication and biometric platform to prevent fraudulent activity, raised a $5.0M Venture Round.

• Evo Security, a United States-based managed identity and access management platform for MSSPs, raised a $3.8M Venture Round.

• Common Fate, an Australia-based cloud privileged access management (PAM) platform, raised a $3.1M Seed from Work-Bench. (more)

• Zecurity, a United States-based remote browser isolation platform, raised a $300.0K Seed.

• QWERX, a United States-based secrets management platform, raised a $200.0K Debt Financing Round.

• DigitSec, a United States-based Salesforce application security platform, raised a $100.0K Seed Round.

• AppOmni, a United States-based SaaS security management solution, raised an undisclosed Series C from The Syndicate Group. (more)

• Fortified Health Security, a United States-based managed security services provider (MSSP) focused on the healthcare industry, raised an undisclosed Venture Round from Health Velocity Capital and Silversmith Capital Partners.

• HUAUN, a China-based threat and vulnerability management (TVM), raised an undisclosed Series B from Yi Capital.

• Paygilant, an Israel, Israel-based banking and e-commerce fraud prevention platform, raised an undisclosed Venture Round from uShark.

• Privacy4Cars, a United States-based data privacy platform for the auto industry, raised an undisclosed Venture Round from Automotive Ventures and FM Capital. (more)

• Tidal Cyber, a United States-based threat-informed defense (TID) platform, raised an undisclosed Seed fromVirginia Venture Partners. (more)

🌎 Funding By Country

• $331.4M for United States 🇺🇸

• $100.0M for United Kingdom 🇬🇧

• $34.0M for Germany 🇩🇪

• $20.0M for Switzerland 🇨🇭

• $6.0M for Israel 🇮🇱

• $3.1M for Australia 🇦🇺

• An undisclosed amount for China 🇨🇳

🤝 Mergers & Acquisitions

• 1 Ping Security Co, a United States-based professional services firm focused on vCISO consulting, was acquired by General Informatics for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• BinaryNetworks, a United States-based managed services provider (MSP), was acquired by Marcum Technology for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Crashtest Security, a Germany-based dynamic application security testing (DAST) platform, was acquired by Veracode for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• CYRES Consulting, a Germany-based professional services company focused on embedded systems security, was acquired by Var Group for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Effectual, a United States-based managed services provider (MSP), was acquired by SDC Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• G7 CR Technologies, an India-based professional services company focused on cloud security, was acquired by Noventiq for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Global Telecom, a United States-based managed services provider (MSP), was acquired by Xtel Communications for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Helm Partners, a United States-based professional services firm focused on cybersecurity and digital transformation, was acquired by Bluewave for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Illusive, an Israel-based privileged access management (PAM) attack surface exposure platform, was acquired by Proofpoint for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Netcetera AG, a Switzerland-based professional services firm focused on cybersecurity and digital transformation, was acquired by Giesecke+Devrient for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Odata Brasil, a Brazil-based managed services provider (MSP), was acquired by Aligned for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• Remediant, a United States-based privileged access management (PAM) platform, was acquired by Netwrix for an undisclosed amount. (more)

• VAZATA, a United States-based managed services provider (MSP), was acquired by General Informatics for an undisclosed amount. (more)

🔐 Secure The Job

Return on Security Job Board

Browse the jobs I curate each week and apply for what matches your interests.

Post a role and request access to meet world-class candidates open to new opportunities. Learn more or request access here.

📚 Great Reads

• The State of Cybersecurity in 2022 and Trends and Predictions for 2023 - Here is the first annual report from Return on Security looking back on the state of the cybersecurity industry in 2022 and l what I think 2023 might hold.

• NSA 2022 Cybersecurity Year in Review - The National Security Agency published its 2022 Cybersecurity Year in Review today to share its mission focuses and demonstrate how it is producing cybersecurity outcomes for the nation

• Digital Switzerland Strategy 2023 - The Digital Switzerland Strategy sets the guidelines for Switzerland’s digital transformation and focuses on "digital sovereignty" to include security and trust for individuals.

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🧪 Labs

👋 Thanks

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Thanks for reading, and see you again next time!

Cheers,

Mike P