Cloud Security Firm Wiz Raises $1B At $12B Valuation

Cloud security startup Wiz locked up the biggest cybersecurity round of the year thus far as it raised $1 billion at a $12 billion valuation.

The round — announced as the industry’s RSA Conference is getting underway in San Francisco — could be another sign of investors coming back to the cybersecurity space. Cyber startups are coming off their best funding quarter in three quarters, and late last month Microsoft-backed data security firm Rubrik had a successful IPO.

Wiz’s latest round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Thrive Capital, with participation from Greylock, Wellington Management and existing investors Cyberstarts, Greenoaks, Howard Schultz, Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures 1 and Sequoia Capital.

Founded in 2020, Wiz has raised $1.9 billion, per the company.

Wiz, originally founded in Israel, has been busy of late. Just last month it acquired New York-based cloud detection and response startup Gem Security. The company said the new cash infusion could be used for more deal-making.

The New York-based startup said it achieved $350 million in annual recurring revenue last year. It has talked openly about hitting $1 billion in ARR as it heads to an IPO.

Cyber funding

The round could be another sign funding in the cybersecurity sector is rebounding. In Q1, cybersecurity startups raised nearly $2.7 billion in 154 deals, per Crunchbase data.

That dollar figure is the highest since Q1 last year, when similar startups raised just less than $2.9 billion in 228 deals. However, the Q1 2024 dollar figure represents a 69% increase from the previous quarter, when cyber startups raised just $1.6 billion in 148 deals.