Cybersecurity Starts Off Week With Big Rounds

While venture funding to cybersecurity startups is down 30% year to year, this week has already seen a handful of good-sized rounds going to U.S.-based security firms.

Just in the first couple of days of the week, several cybersecurity startups saw significant rounds — some at big valuations — including:

Dallas-based cybersecurity startup Island announced a $100 million Series C led by Prysm Capital and valuing it at $1.5 billion. The enterprise browser developer raised a $115 million Series B at a $1.3 billion valuation last year led by Insight Partners.
Ann Arbor, Michigan-based threat hunting and exposure management startup Censys raised $75 million in a mix of equity and debt. The equity portion of the round was led by Decibel Partners, GV, Greylock and Intel Capital.
Washington, D.C.-based Adlumin, a managed detection and response startup, raised a $70 million Series B led by SYN Ventures.
Cleveland-based identity startup Keyfactor secured a minority investment of an undisclosed amount from Sixth Street Growth that values it at approximately $1.3 billion. The company also announced it had merged with PrimeKey.

Cyber funding comeback?

While funding is down year to year, it actually saw a slight uptick quarter to quarter.

According to Crunchbase data, cybersecurity startups raised nearly $1.9 billion through 153 deals announced in Q3, a 12% increase from the $1.7 billion raised in 181 deals the previous quarter.

While the dollar figure is down significantly from the $2.7 billion raised in Q3 2022, it does show some resiliency for the sector even as venture capitalists are reeling in spending due to increasing interest rates, geopolitical issues and a fluctuating public market.

Although it is much too early to predict what Q4 numbers will look like, the start of this week could point to another slight uptick.