At a glance.
- Palo Alto Networks to acquire Protect AI.
- Persona secures $200 million in Series D funding.
- Cast AI and Veza each secure $108 million in funding rounds.
Mergers and acquisitions.
Palo Alto Networks has announced its intent to acquire Seattle-headquartered AI system security company Protect AI. Palo Alto stated, "After the close of the transaction, Protect AI's solutions and team of experts will enable Palo Alto Networks to more quickly and comprehensively accelerate its vision for Prisma AIRS™, the industry's most complete AI security platform, also announced today."
San Francisco-based cloud security company Upwind has acquired embedded cybersecurity startup Nyx Security. The company stated, "The acquisition accelerates Upwind’s expansion into application runtime security, establishing the company as the leader in runtime security by combining cutting-edge application analysis with its existing strength in protecting cloud infrastructure."
Investments and exits.
San Francisco-based identity verification platform Persona has secured $200 million in a Series D round led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with participation from existing investors including BOND, Chemistry, Coatue Management, First Round, and Index Ventures. The funding brings the company's valuation to $2 billion.
Kubernetes automation platform Cast AI has secured $108 million in Series C funding led by G2 Venture Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Aglaé Ventures and existing investors Hedosophia, Cota Capital, Vintage Investment Partners, Creandum, and Uncorrelated Ventures. The company says it "will use its latest round of funding to expand its APA platform’s capabilities, grow its global footprint, and deliver even greater value to customers."
Redwood Shores, California-based identity security firm Veza has raised $108 million in a Series D round led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from Atlassian Ventures, Workday Ventures, and Snowflake Ventures, and existing investors Accel, GV (Google Ventures), True Ventures, Norwest, Ballistic Ventures, J.P. Morgan, and Blackstone Innovations Investments. The company says it "will use the funds to accelerate go-to-market (GTM) worldwide and product development."
New York-headquartered application security firm Ox Security has raised $60 million in a Series B round led by DTCP, with participation from IBM Ventures, Microsoft, Swisscom Ventures, Evolution Equity Partners, and Team8. The company says the new funding "will be used to accelerate product innovation, expand the company's global footprint, and continue helping enterprises move from reactive security to measurable risk reduction."
Israeli application security platform provider Minimus has emerged from stealth with $51 million in seed funding from YL Ventures and Mayfield. The company's platform "provides secure, minimal container images and virtual machines that seamlessly replace existing artifacts anywhere in the development workflow."
Dutch application performance monitoring company AppSignal has secured $22 million in a Series A round led by Elsewhere Partners. The company also announced the appointment of Brandon Swalve as CEO and has established US operations in Austin, Texas.
US-based social engineering defense platform Doppel has raised $35 million in a Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from 9Yards Capital, Sozo Ventures, and existing investors a16z, South Park Commons, Strategic Cyber Ventures, Script Capital, and Sabrina Hahn. The company's CEO Kevin Tian stated, "We’ll use these funds to double down on our core products, serve the rapidly growing demand from enterprises across all sectors, and build the first social engineering defense platform."
North Carolina-based zero-trust networking company NetFoundry has raised $12 million in funding from SYN Ventures.
Executive moves.
accessiBe has appointed Robert Lopez as CEO. The company's former CEO and co-founder Dekel Skoop "will remain actively involved with the company's strategic direction and board."
Garantir has named Trell Rohovit as CEO.
Mimecast has appointed Ranjan Singh as Chief Product & Technology Officer.
Semperis has named Alex Weinert as Chief Product Officer.