At a glance.
- Google to acquire Mandiant.
- Axonius raises $200 million in Series E round.
Mergers and acquisitions.
Google has signed an agreement to acquire Mandiant for $5.4 billion. Google stated, "The acquisition of Mandiant will complement Google Cloud’s existing strengths in security. Google Cloud offers customers a robust set of services including pioneering capabilities such as BeyondCorp Enterprise for Zero Trust and VirusTotal for malicious content and software vulnerabilities; Chronicle’s planet-scale security analytics and automation coupled with services such as Security Command Center to help organizations detect and protect themselves from cyber threats; as well as expertise from Google Cloud’s Cybersecurity Action Team. With the addition of Mandiant, Google Cloud will enhance these offerings to deliver an end-to-end security operations suite with even greater capabilities to support customers across their cloud and on-premise environments." Mandiant said in its press release, "The acquisition will complement Google Cloud’s existing strengths in security. Together with Mandiant, Google Cloud will deliver an end-to-end security operations suite with even greater capabilities as well as advisory services helping customers address critical security challenges and stay protected at every stage of the security lifecycle."
Jeannie Warner, director of product marketing at Exabeam, commented on the acquisition:
"It’s not completely shocking that Google came in and stole Microsoft’s thunder with the Mandiant purchase. Microsoft likes to bundle. People buy Microsoft bundles – and they are slow to integrate new offerings completely into their infrastructure. I wonder if the project plan post acquisition was too complex for a fast turnaround. Overall, it seems that it was not a strategic fit. Microsoft already acquired RiskIQ, and there is some overlap in capabilities."
Massachusetts-based managed IT services firm Thrive has acquired Florida-headquartered managed technology solutions provider SouthTech. The company stated, "The acquisition will provide businesses throughout the region with enhanced IT support along with Thrive's next-generation managed cybersecurity, collaboration, and Cloud services to help drive digital transformation efficiencies."
Vancouver-based identity security company Plurilock has acquired Canadian IT and cybersecurity solutions provider Integra Networks. Plurilock stated, "By leveraging Plurilock's zero trust identity technology and strong sales distribution channels, this acquisition is expected to equip Integra to further serve customers with leading-edge cybersecurity solutions and expand its footprint in the public and private sectors. In addition, this Transaction enables PlurilockTM to expand its geographic footprint, facilitate access and ongoing growth opportunities servicing the Canadian government, and expand its East-Canadian operations."
Investments and exits.
New York City-based cybersecurity asset management firm Axonius has raised $200 million in a Series E round led by Accel, with participation from Silver Lake Waterman, Alta Park Capital, Owl Rock (a division of Blue Owl), and existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alkeon, Stripes, ICONIQ, and DTCP. The funding round brings the company's valuation to $2.6 billion. Axonius said the funding "will support continued efforts in scaling to meet global customer demand."
San Jose, California-based cybersecurity posture management company Balbix has raised $70 million in a Series C round led by Redline Capital, with participation from Third Point Ventures, Nautilus Venture Partners, Modern Venture Partners, Franklin Park, and existing investors Mayfield, JC2 Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Alter Venture Partners, and Singtel Innov8. The company stated, "The funds will be used to build out Balbix’s go-to-market capabilities and continued engineering investments to address market needs across unified asset inventory, software bill of materials (SBOM), vulnerability management, cyber risk quantification, and security posture automation."
Israeli application security startup Cider Security has emerged from stealth with $38 million in a Series A round led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from existing investor Glilot Capital Partners. The company stated, "The funding will be used to expand R&D operations in Israel and open new offices globally to support growing demand."
San Francisco-based application security company NeuraLegion has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Evolution Equity Partners, with participation from existing investors DNX Ventures, J-ventures, Fusion Fund, and Incubate Fund. The company has also rebranded as "Bright Security."
Israeli fraud prevention company nSure.ai has raised $18 million in a Series A round led by MoreTech Ventures, with participation from existing investors DisruptiveAI, Gryffin Ventures, and Moneta Seeds. The company's co-founder and CTO Ziv Isaiah stated, "This round of funding is allowing us to scale our technology along with in-house services. Our team is growing to onboard more companies, while in parallel, our technology will be able to accommodate more industry-specific requests as we scale."
Tel Aviv-based threat coverage optimization company CardinalOps has raised $17.5 million in a Series A round led by Viola Ventures, with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures, Glilot Capital, Symbol, and angel investors. CardinalOps stated, "This latest round will fuel aggressive global expansion in go-to-market and product innovation activities. The company is also announcing that industry veteran Phil Neray has joined the company from Microsoft as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Vice President of Cyber Defense Strategy."
San Francisco-based third-party cyber risk management provider VISO Trust has secured $11 million in a Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Work-Bench, Sierra Ventures, Lytical Ventures, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia, and former Splunk CEO Doug Merritt, VentureBeat reports. VentureBeat says "[t]he startup employs 25 people currently and plans to more than double this year with the new funding in hand."
Boston-based infrastructure-access-as-a-service provider BastionZero has raised $6 million in a seed round led by Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from Akamai and DG Lab Fund (Japan). The company stated, "The company’s Seed funding will allow it to continue building the features of BastionZero, and devise new ways to ease and automate the rollout of the tool across cloud teams and different types of infrastructure targets. This new investment will also accelerate the timeline in opening the doors to everyone under a self-serve model."
Executive moves.
Proofpoint's founding CEO Gary Steele is leaving the company after nineteen years to take over as CEO of Splunk. Ashan Willy, Proofpoint’s EVP and GM of Security Products and Services, will serve as the Proofpoint's interim CEO.
Cynet has hired Bruno Darmon as Chief Strategy Officer. Darmon previously served as Vice President of EMEA Sales at Check Point.
Query.AI has appointed Neal Bridges as Chief Information Security Officer.
Samsara has hired Dave Bossio as Chief Information Security Officer.
Quantum Xchange has appointed Vince Berk as Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer. Berk previously served as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Security Architect at Riverbed Technologies.
Exabeam has named Mark Jensen to its board of directors and appointed him as Chair of the Audit Committee.
Companies in the news.
Many companies have stopped doing business in Russia to protest Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, BleepingComputer reports. Cisco's CEO Chuck Robbins announced last week that the company was pulling out of Russia and Belarus, stating that Cisco "will continue to focus on supporting our Ukrainian employees, customers and partners while providing humanitarian aid and accelerating our efforts to protect organizations in Ukraine from cyber threats." Other companies that have ceased operations in Russia include Microsoft, Google, Apple, Oracle, SAP, Nokia, Intel, and AMD.
Sinclair Broadcast Group lost $63 million in advertising revenue due to a ransomware attack the company sustained in October 2021, Cybersecurity Dive reports. The company also spent $11 million recovering from the attack. Cybersecurity Dive notes, "The costs exceeded the company's insurance coverage. The firm recorded $24 million in unrecoverable net losses related to the attack as of the March 1 filing of the 10-K."