We look at startups founded in the last four years that have recently launched new offerings for cloud, data, or identity security.
As threat actors continue to move away from targeting endpoints as their primary focus, attacks targeting cloud environments and identity systems continue to rise. When it comes to identity, for example, many organizations undoubtedly have huge gaps, solutions provider executives told CRN. Organizations repeatedly invest in a variety of technologies to secure their identity and access systems, “and they still get hacked,” said Mark Jones, founder and CEO of BlackLake Security, No. 221, based in Austin, Texas. On the CRN 500 Solutions Provider for 2024.
(Related: 10 New Tools for Cloud and Code Security in 2024)
This helped lead to BlackLake partnering with an early-stage startup, Savvy, which focuses on SaaS identity security. Working with Savvy has generated significant opportunities for BlackLake to conduct audit assessments of customer environments, which includes identifying identity and access issues that customers are unaware of, Jones said.
Likewise, in the areas of cloud and data security, attacks continue to increase amid the shift to newer tactics and technologies – leading to the need for greater innovation in these categories as well.
As part of CRN's Cybersecurity Week 2024, we identified 10 of these rising players in the cloud, identity and data security sectors. We've selected startups founded since 2020 that have big announcements in 2024 — such as a big product launch or funding round — demonstrating their traction in this space. In terms of funding, cybersecurity startups that made the rounds at unicorn-level valuations this year included Cyera, Chainguard, and Island.
Here are the key details on 10 startups to watch in the cloud, data security and identity space.
Chain keeper
Establishment date: 2021
CEO: Dan Lorenc
Chainguard aims to provide greater security to the software supply chain and cloud environment by offering container images containing “low to zero” known vulnerabilities, with the goal of enabling developers to worry less about security by virtualizing them in containers. In July, Kirkland, Wash.-based Chainguard announced a $140 million Series C funding round led by Redpoint Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and IVP, which brought with it a $1.12 billion valuation.
Walk
Establishment date: 2021
CEO: Yotam Segev
Cyera offers an agentless data security posture management (DSPM) tool, enabling the discovery, classification, evaluation and protection of unstructured and structured data. Cyera's DSPM technology works across cloud and SaaS applications as well as data warehouses and on-premises environments, the New York-based company said. In April, Cyera announced it had raised a $300 million Series C round led by Coatue, taking the company's valuation to $1.4 billion and raising $460 million in total funding.
dazzle
Establishment date: 2021
CEO: Merav Bhatt
Dazz offers a remediation-focused cloud security platform, including through capabilities such as application security posture management and persistent threat and exposure management. In July, the startup announced $50 million in funding from Greylock, Cyberstarts, Insight Partners and Index Ventures, bringing the Palo Alto, California-based company's total funding take to date to $110 million.
island
Establishment date: 2020
CEO: Mike Fay
Island offers a secure, workplace-focused web browser, Island Enterprise Browser, that automatically embeds data protection, network controls, IT and security capabilities, and other functionality. In April, Dallas-based Island unveiled a $175 million Series D fundraising led by Coatue and Sequoia, which brought with it a $3 billion valuation.
Legal security
Establishment date: 2020
CEO: Ronnie Fox
Legit Security provides an application security posture management platform that aims to provide enhanced visibility and security throughout the software development process, including by offering a unified console for code and cloud security. In August, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup announced what it calls “the industry’s first AI security command center,” which offers a dedicated AI security dashboard.
Artificial intelligence protection
Establishment date: 2022
CEO: Ian Swanson
Protect AI focuses on AI-SPM (AI Security Posture Management) which aims to provide greater visibility, management and security to AI/ML environments, as well as providing remediation and governance capabilities. In August, Seattle-based Protect AI announced the closing of $60 million in Series B funding led by Evolution Equity Partners, bringing the company to $108.5 million in total funding raised to date.
Savvy
Establishment date: 2021
CEO: Jay Gosner
Savvy aims to strengthen SaaS identity security through greater automation, including through the company's browser extension that provides live instructions for users to resolve password and other account issues. In September, Tel Aviv, Israel-based Savvy launched new user take-out capabilities that can help IT and security teams better prioritize removing user access.
Centra
Establishment date: 2021
CEO: Yoav Regev
Sentra offers a data security posture management platform that aims to provide enhanced visibility into sensitive cloud data, along with greater automation of risk assessment and data-related access analysis. In May, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup unveiled a new offering, Sentra DataTreks, which provides alerts on sensitive data movement as well as guidance and recommendations. Sentra also unveiled local support in May.
Security upwind
Establishment date: 2022
Executive Director: Amiram Shashar
Upwind offers a comprehensive runtime cloud security platform that includes cloud workload protection, cloud detection and response, as well as CSPM (Cloud Security Posture Management), CIEM (Cloud Identity Entitlement Management), and other capabilities. The Upwind platform leverages the San Francisco-based company's “lightweight” eBPF (Extended Berkeley Beam Filter) sensor technology to identify anomalous behavior and provide automated protection, the startup said. In March, Upwind revealed that its offering is available as an add-on for Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS).
Visa
Establishment date: 2020
CEO: Tarun Thakur
Identity security startup Veza aims to help organizations improve their security around access permissions and privileges with a focus on providing a visual display to more easily detect anomalous and dangerous permissions. Veza's platform works across identity and data systems, cloud infrastructure, SaaS and custom-built applications, according to the Los Gatos, Calif., company. In August, Veza announced a new tool, Access AI, which uses GenAI to enable improved visibility and remediation around permissions and access risks.
