At a glance.
- Alphabet is in discussions to acquire Wiz for $23 billion.
- Pindrop Security raises $100 million.
Mergers and acquisitions.
Google's parent company Alphabet is in "advanced discussions" to acquire New York City-based cloud security company Wiz for approximately $23 billion, CNN reports. The acquisition would be Google's largest purchase by far, nearly doubling its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola in 2012. The New York Times says the deal "looks likely," but could still fall through. Yahoo Finance notes that the acquisition will almost certainly face scrutiny from US antitrust regulators, regardless of who wins the White House in November.
Arlington, Virginia-based threat intelligence firm ThreatConnect has acquired Polarity, a security event intelligence platform provider based in Connecticut. Paul Battista, CEO of Polarity, stated, "With our latest developments in AI and automation, together, we can empower security professionals with timely, actionable intelligence at every juncture of their workflow. We're looking forward to introducing Polarity to ThreatConnect customers and bringing significant innovations to the market."
Investments and exits.
Atlanta, Georgia-based deepfake detection startup Pindrop Security has raised $100 million in debt financing from Hercules Capital. The company says the "significant funding will enable Pindrop to further develop its cutting-edge audio, voice, and AI technologies, enhancing its offerings for customers in the banking, finance, contact center, insurance, utilities, healthcare, retail, and other industries."
Sola Security, a cybersecurity startup that's still in stealth mode, has raised $28 million in a seed funding round led by S Capital, with participation from Michael Moritz and the S32 fund, CTech reports. The company was founded several months ago by Guy Flechter, a co-founder of Cider Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2023).
UK-based threat deception startup Tracebit has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Accel, with participation from Tapestry VC, 20Sales, and angel investors. The company says it will "deploy this investment towards the continued growth of our team and product."
Executive moves.
Axonius has named Nick Degnan as Chief Revenue Officer and Rob Casselman as Chief Customer Officer.
Optiv has appointed Scott Goree as Senior Vice President of Partners, Alliances, and Ecosystems.
Aviatrix has hired Anirban Sengupta as Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Engineering.