Top stories.
- Cato Networks acquires Aim Security and adds another $50 million to Series G round.
- CrowdStrike to acquire data intelligence firm Onum.
- Varonis acquires email security company SlashNext.
Mergers and acquisitions.
Israeli SASE provider Cato Networks has acquired Tel Aviv-based generative AI security firm Aim Security. The company stated, "This is Cato’s first-ever acquisition and will further expand the Cato SASE Cloud Platform, enabling secure enterprise adoption of AI agents and public and private AI applications."
Austin, Texas-based cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike has agreed to acquire Spanish data intelligence firm Onum for $290 million, BankInfoSecurity reports. CrowdStrike plans to integrate Onum's technology into its Falcon Next-Gen SIEM platform, stating, "Previously, migrating data into Next-Gen SIEM was the long pole in SOC transformation, often requiring third-party tools. The Onum acquisition eliminates the data migration bottleneck, removing friction and cost – delivering native data streaming and in-pipeline detection within the Falcon platform."
Miami-headquartered data security firm Varonis has acquired Pleasanton, California-based email security provider SlashNext for $150 million including performance-based retention awards, Bloomberg reports. Varonis stated, "With the acquisition of SlashNext, we are extending our data-centric threat detection capabilities with the market’s best phishing and social engineering detection solution. We can now stop one of the most prevalent forms of attack and extend our end-to-end approach to protecting data." SlashNext was founded in 2017 by Atif Mushtaq and had raised a total of $43 million in venture capital funding.
San Francisco-headquartered identity and access management (IAM) platform Okta has agreed to acquire Israeli privileged access management (PAM) provider Axiom Security for an estimated $100 million, CTech reports. CTech says Axiom's employees will join Okta's R&D center in Israel. Okta said in a press release, "Axiom’s technology will be integrated into Okta Privileged Access, expanding access controls to more sensitive resources that Okta customers can use to further strengthen their identity security fabric, so they can manage the types of privileged access across resources and use cases in their environment."
English cybersecurity services provider Red Helix has acquired London-based security consultancy Risk Crew. According to a press release from Red Helix backer LDC, the acquisition will allow clients of both businesses "to access a more comprehensive range of cyber security services from a single, trusted partner, including leading advice and solutions that enable them to actively mitigate vulnerabilities."
Washington-headquartered enterprise content management company ImageSource has acquired cybersecurity firm Zorse Cyber (also based in Washington), including its threat detection and prevention platform Bouncer. ImageSource stated, "The acquisition strengthens the market position of ImageSource by accelerating the company's mission to deliver secure, targeted solutions that enable organizations to modernize through process innovation. Bouncer adds advanced email, web, and file-based threat-prevention technology to the ILINX platform portfolio, along with a highly skilled team of cyber experts recognized for their deep industry knowledge and proven track record."
Investments and exits.
Alongside its acquisition of Aim Security, Cato Networks announced a $50 million expansion to its Series G round, bringing the round's total funding to $409 million. The additional funding came from Acrew Capital. The company notes that it has now "surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR)."
Virginia-based threat defense platform provider Tidal Cyber has secured $10 million in a Series A round led by Bright Pixel Capital, with participation from existing investors. The company says the funding "will accelerate product innovation and fuel company growth."
Danish security awareness platform provider Moxso has raised $5.5 million in seed funding led by Seed Capital, with participation from Ugly Duckling Ventures and D2 Fund. The company plans to use the funding to grow its team and expand further across Europe.
Ohio-based risk intelligence company InnerActiv has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round co-led by Blu Ventures and North Coast Ventures, with participation from angel investors. The company says the funding "will accelerate ActivDesktop, InnerActiv’s comprehensive endpoint monitoring and risk intelligence platform for Windows and macOS, expand integrations with EDR/MDR platforms and SIEMs, and grow the company’s direct and channel sales presence."
Spanish AI governance and privacy company TrustWorks has closed a new funding round led by Elkstone Ventures. The amount of the funding wasn't disclosed. The company previously raised €2 million in seed funding in 2021. Trustworks plans to use the funding to accelerate product innovation and expand into new markets.
Executive moves.
Technology Advancement Center (TAC) has named Chris Hollifield as its new CEO. Hollifield previously served as the nonprofit's Chief Strategy Officer. TAC's previous CEO, Gregg Smith, has joined the organization's board of directors.
Following his departure as chief executive of TAC, Gregg Smith has joined Toka as CEO. Smith has also served as CEO of Attila Security, Silent Circle, Optio Labs, and Koolspan.
Phosphorus has appointed Sonu Shankar as President and COO. Shankar previously served as the company's Chief Product Officer.
Enkrypt AI has hired Merritt Baer as Chief Security Officer. Baer previously served as Deputy CISO at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Mimecast has named Leslie Nielsen as CISO. Nielsen most recently served as SVP and CISO at Klaviyo.
Axonius has appointed Joe Diamond to the newly created role of president, where he'll "lead a unified Go-To-Market (GTM) organization, bringing together the company’s Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing functions to accelerate execution and scale the company’s global growth." The company also hired Matt McSweeney as Vice President of Sales, Americas.