The rapid advancement of technology, increasing internet penetration, and the global wave of digital transformation have led to significant changes in how businesses operate and how people engage with digital platforms.
Many organizations are expanding their presence online, while a growing number of businesses operate entirely in the digital space. Internally, companies are adopting digital tools and technologies to enhance operations. At the same time, the rise of the gig economy and remote work culture continues to reshape the modern workforce. With more affordable mobile data and greater bandwidth availability, internet consumption has skyrocketed.
Consequently, individuals and organizations generate quintillions of bytes of data each year. In this data-driven world, information has become the new oil—highly valuable and increasingly targeted. Cyber attackers are leveraging advanced technologies to devise new and sophisticated ways to breach networks, compromise systems, and access sensitive information. The consequences of such cyberattacks and data breaches are severe—not only in terms of financial losses but also in the erosion of brand reputation, customer trust, and market goodwill.
High-profile incidents involving global tech giants such as Yahoo, Facebook, Marriott International, Panera Bread, and Exactis underscore the scale of the threat. While large corporations often possess the financial, technical, legal, and infrastructural resources to recover, smaller businesses are far more vulnerable. For many, a major breach can be devastating, sometimes forcing them to shut down due to a lack of resources to rebuild or regain customer confidence.
In response, awareness around the importance of proactive and robust cybersecurity strategies has grown significantly. Organizations are increasingly prioritizing cybersecurity as a core function, leading to a surge in investments in the field. This growing demand has fueled the rise of cybersecurity startups worldwide—over 3,000 and counting—each aiming to reshape how businesses of all sizes perceive and implement cybersecurity.
1. Wiz
- Founded: 2020
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel / New York, USA
- Founders: Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik
- Focus Area: Cloud Infrastructure Security
- Key Offering:
Wiz provides an agentless, cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) that scans the entire cloud environment across all layers—VMs, containers, serverless, and more. - Why It Stands Out:
- Achieved unicorn status in under a year.
- Valued at over $10 billion as of 2024.
- Used by over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies.
- Differentiated by its agentless scanning, ease of deployment, and real-time visibility across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes.
- Customers: Salesforce, Slack, The Home Depot
- Recent Developments: Raised $1 billion in funding to accelerate R&D and global expansion.
2. Snyk
- Founded: 2015
- Headquarters: London, UK / Boston, USA
- Founders: Guy Podjarny, Danny Grander, Assaf Hefetz
- Focus Area: Developer Security / DevSecOps
- Key Offering:
Snyk integrates into developer workflows and continuously scans for vulnerabilities in code, open source, containers, and IaC. - Why It Stands Out:
- Pioneered the “shift-left” security model.
- Developer-friendly integrations with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, VS Code.
- Offers automatic fix suggestions.
- Customers: Salesforce, Google, Atlassian, New Relic
- Funding & Valuation: Raised over $1.2 billion, valued around $8.5 billion.
- Recent Focus: AI-driven vulnerability management and enterprise compliance.
3. Talon Cyber Security
- Founded: 2021
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Founders: Ofer Ben-Noon, Ohad Bobrov
- Focus Area: Secure Enterprise Browser for Hybrid Workforces
- Key Offering:
Provides a secure enterprise-grade browser with built-in controls like DLP, monitoring, and isolation for BYOD environments. - Why It Stands Out:
- Tailored for hybrid/remote work.
- Eliminates need for VPNs and complex configurations.
- Supports zero-trust and productivity.
- Target Users: Remote teams, contractors, gig workers
- Funding: Over $143 million, backed by Evolution Equity and Lightspeed
- Recognition: Gartner Cool Vendor in Endpoint Security
4. Abnormal Security
- Founded: 2018
- Headquarters: San Francisco, USA
- Founders: Evan Reiser, Sanjay Jeyakumar
- Focus Area: Email Security with Behavioral AI
- Key Offering:
Uses AI and behavioral profiling to detect and block phishing, BEC, and fraud. - Why It Stands Out:
- Uses behavioral AI instead of static rules.
- Understands normal patterns to detect anomalies.
- Easy API integration with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
- Customers: Xerox, Hitachi Vantara, Fastly
- Recent Growth: ARR over $100M
- Recognition: Forbes Cloud 100, Fast Company Most Innovative Companies
5. Cado Security
-
- Founded: 2020
- Headquarters: London, UK
- Founders: Chris Doman, James Campbell
- Focus Area: Cloud Forensics and Incident Response
- Key Offering:
Provides a cloud-native DFIR platform for automated evidence collection and analysis across cloud providers. - Why It Stands Out:
- Purpose-built for cloud forensics.
- Enables rapid root cause analysis.
- Reduces incident response time significantly.