January Cybersecurity Insights – Funding and M&A

This January edition of Cybersecurity Insights delves into the latest funding rounds and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) shaping the industry.

From AI-driven fraud prevention to cloud-native observability, security startups around the world are attracting substantial investor interest, signaling confidence in innovative security solutions. On the M&A front, established players are broadening their capabilities through targeted acquisitions, reflecting a growing emphasis on growing their revenue through expanding their offering.

Seed Funding

Frenos secures $3.88M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2023, Frenos transforms how critical infrastructure teams assess the cybersecurity posture of mission-critical environments, devices, and applications by proactively identifying the most effective risk mitigations at scale. This round was led by DataTribe.

Staris AI secures $5.7M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2023, Staris employs AI to develop virtual security engineers that build an “immune system” for applications. This round was led by Freestyle Capital.

Dune Security secures $6M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2023, Dune Security is a cybersecurity company that utilizes AI to analyze user behavior and identify high-risk employees within an organization. This round was led by Toba Capital w/participation from Craft Ventures, Firestreak Ventures, & Alumni Ventures.

Axoflow secures $7M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2023, Axoflow offers a platform that transforms on-premises and cloud logs, metrics, and traces into a cloud-native observability infrastructure. This round was led by EBRD Venture Capital.

Spikerz Security secures $7M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2021, Spikerz is an end-to-end security SaaS platform for digital and social assets. This round was led by Disruptive AI Venture Capital w/participation from BDMI, Horizon Capital, Wix Capital, and Storytime Capital.

Backline AI secures $9M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2024, Backline’s AI agents automatically deploy trustworthy code and configuration changes at scale, freeing your team from impossible backlogs. This round was led by StageOne Ventures w/participation from Gradient & Evolution Equity Partners.

TrustLogix secures $13M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2019, TrustLogix equips businesses with privacy solutions through data security protection and governance. This round was led by Alter Venture Partners and WestWave Capital.

Observo AI secures $15M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2022, Observo AI was created to help Security and DevOps teams solve their biggest telemetry data problems. This round was led by Felicis and Lightspeed.

Humanity Protocol secures $20M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2023, Humanity Protocol provides developers with unique-human authentication mechanisms and gives users complete ownership over their data and identity. This round was led by Pantera Capital & Jump Crypto.

Orchid Security secures $36M in Seed Funding | Founded in 2023, Orchid Security’s Identity-first Security Orchestration platform continuously discovers self-hosted and SaaS applications, analyzing their authentication and authorization flows to identify vulnerabilities and facilitate remediation, ensuring a consistent, standardized posture across the organization’s identity stack. This round was led by Team8 and Intel Capital.

Series A Funding

Safetica secures $4M in Series A Funding | Founded in 2007, Safetica protects companies from data breaches caused by insider errors and malicious actions. This round was led by Impulse Ventures.

SignPath GmbH secures $5.2M in Series A Funding | Founded in 2017, SignPath provides secure, policy-based code-signing for enterprises, small teams, and Open-Source developers. This round was led by TIN Capital | European Cybersecurity Investors.

Clutch Security secures $20M in Series A Funding | Founded in 2023, Clutch Security provides a platform for managing and securing non-human identities. This round was led by SignalFire.

Token Security secures $20M in Series A Funding | Founded in 2023, Token Security is a non-human identity security firm that scans tech stacks to detect machine identities and prevent breaches. This round was led by Notable Capital w/participation from TLV Partners.

Apheris secures $20.2M in Series A Funding | Founded in 2019, Apheris is focused on network security, addressing the need for secure data sharing. This round was led by eCapital Corp. and OTB Ventures w/participation from Heal Capital and Octopus Ventures.

Seraphic Security secures $29M in Series A Funding | Seraphic is a cybersecurity startup that provides a browser with robust protection and prevention capabilities for a wide range of threats. This round was led by GreatPoint Ventures.

Series B Funding

Hypori secures $12M in Series B Funding | Founded in 2021, Hypori’s SaaS-delivered virtual workspace frees customers from liability and security risks and preserves privacy for the mobile end-user. This round was led by Hale Capital Partners.

Mitiga secures $30M in Series B Funding | Founded in 2019, Mitiga provides a complete SaaS and cloud threat detection solution to address unique security challenges in modern environments. This round was led by SYN Ventures w/participation from ClearSky, Glilot Capital Partners, Atlantic Bridge, Flint Capital, and DNX Ventures – US.

Oligo Security secures $50M in Series B Funding | Founded in 2022, Oligo Security specializes in application detection and response, focusing on protecting software during the development lifecycle. This round was led by Greenfield Partners.

Other Funding Rounds

Fudo Security secures $10M in Funding | Founded in 2012, Fudo Security is a leading privileged access management solutions firm. This round was led by bValue Fund.

ThreatMark secures $23M in Funding | Founded in 2015, Threatmark protects businesses from fraud using AI and behavioral intelligence. This round was led by Octopus Ventures, Riverside Acceleration Capital, and SpringTide Ventures.

M&A

AvePoint announced their agreement to acquire Ydentic | This strategic acquisition will drive the continued evolution of Elements, AvePoint’s MSP Platform for greater MSP profitability, increased operational efficiency, scalability, and new security-centric recurring revenue streams.

CHEQ announced their agreement to acquire Deduce | Together, CHEQ & Deduce’s combined offering will enable and protect the digital journey, keeping it secure, compliant, and friction-free for human, agent-enabled, and machine customers—the foundation for enterprise go-to-market effectiveness in today’s increasingly AI-fueled economy.

CYE announced their agreement to acquire Solvo | Solvo’s technology for cloud security posture management and cloud infrastructure entitlement management will complement CYE’s Hyber platform by providing deep visibility into the cloud assets of customers and by addressing configurations and other gaps.

Cymulate acquires CYNC Secure | This acquisition will allow Cymulate to accelerate their innovation in Continuous Threat Exposure Management and empower SecOps teams with a comprehensive platform. The deal is estimated at ~$10M.

Darktrace announced their proposed agreement to acquire Cado Security | Darktrace intends to accelerate the growth of Cado’s existing products through investment while also combining Cado’s forensic investigation technology with Darktrace’s existing security platform. The acquisition is subject to receipt of regulatory approval and is expected to complete in February but is yet another move in Thoma Bravo cybersecurity activity.

Fenix24 announced their agreement to acquire vArmour | The acquisition will help Fenix24 improve cyber resilience and incident recovery by providing companies with expert insights into their own assets and infrastructure both in peacetime and wartime. vArmour raised more than $300 million in total funding prior to the announcement. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

JumpCloud announced their agreement to acquire Stack Identity | Stack Identity is a next-generation identity security and access visibility platform. This acquisition strengthens JumpCloud’s identity-first access management solution.

Prove announced their agreement to acquire Portabl (acquired by Prove) | This acquisition will enable Prove to enhance its industry-leading mobile-based identity solutions with Portabl’s innovative approach to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards like verifiable credentials. The integrated platform will unlock new ways for businesses to verify users, build trust networks, and proactively mitigate emerging fraud threats.

Tenable announced their agreement to acquire Vulcan Cyber | Own exposure risk | Vulcan Cyber’s capabilities will augment Tenable’s industry-leading Exposure Management platform, enhancing customers’ ability to consolidate exposures across their security stack, prioritize risks, and streamline remediation efforts across the entire attack surface.

Tidal Cyber announced their agreement to acquire Zero-Shot Security | With this acquisition, Tidal Cyber is making threat intelligence mapping accessible for all organizations, offering a solution that helps users understand threats at a behavioral level and prioritize defensive improvements. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Veracode announced their agreement to acquire Phylum | This acquisition will enable Veracode to provide customers with “comprehensive” visibility into the risks associated with their use of open-source code. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

WatchGuard Technologies announced their agreement to acquire ActZero | The acquisition aims to mature WatchGuard’s 24/7 MDR service by integrating ActZero’s technologies and teams, which are known for providing proactive, AI-driven threat response and analysis. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

At Intaso, we understand that staying ahead in cybersecurity requires not just the right technology but also the right talent. Whether you’re a startup looking to scale, an enterprise building out your security team, or a professional seeking your next challenge, Intaso is here to connect you with the best opportunities in the cybersecurity recruitment space. Get in touch with us today to explore how we can help you put the right people in the right roles, or secure your next role.