Wiz, a cloud security company, has secured $1 billion in a funding round, propelling its valuation to a staggering $12 billion. This marks a significant milestone for the four-year-old company, reflecting the growing demand for robust cloud security solutions and Wiz’s rapid market capture.
The funding round, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital, brings Wiz’s total funding to $1.9 billion. This rapid growth is attributed to two key factors: high demand for Wiz’s products and a broader industry shift towards consolidated security offerings.
Earlier this year, we also reported about, Israeli tech unicorn Aqua Security that raised $60M for its cloud-based cybersecurity approach.
Wiz has experienced exceptional growth, achieving an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $350 million in 2023. The past year has also seen significant milestones for Wiz beyond financials, including executive appointments and industry recognition.
Assaf Rappaport, CEO and cofounder, Wiz said, “We will never stop innovating on behalf of our customers. Wiz has worked to earn the love of security and development teams; as we bolster our CDR capabilities, SOC teams are also part of that equation. This funding round will help us continue to solve customers’ complex cloud security challenges in an elegant, simple manner while supporting their broader vendor consolidation efforts.”
Dali Rajic, formerly the COO & President of Zscaler, joined Wiz in this same role at the beginning of 2024. Wiz now boasts a customer base that includes 40% of the Fortune 100 companies and was voted the #1 security product based on independent customer reviews on G2. Additionally, Wiz ranked highest among cloud security companies on the Forbes Cloud 100 list and received the top score in the “current offering” category of The Forrester Wave: Cloud Workload Security, Q1, 2024.
Innovation and expansion: Security consolidation and AI
Wiz has also contributed to the advancement of cloud and AI security through pioneering research efforts. The company collaborated with Hugging Face, a leading provider of AI-as-a-service solutions, to bolster AI security and published their inaugural “State of AI in the Cloud” report.
Looking ahead, Wiz anticipates 2024 to be “the year of security consolidation” and plans to leverage the new funding to fuel future mergers and acquisitions (M&A) alongside talent acquisition and product development. Recent M&A activity includes the acquisition of Raftt, designed to empower developers, and Gem Security, aimed at reinventing cloud threat detection.
Wiz’s vision and what investors say about it
Investors expressed strong confidence in Wiz’s future. Assaf Rappaport, CEO and co-founder of Wiz, emphasises the company’s commitment to continuous innovation while expanding their customer base. “We will never stop innovating on behalf of our customers,” Rappaport stated. “This funding round will help us continue to solve customers’ complex cloud security challenges in an elegant, simple manner while supporting their broader vendor consolidation efforts.”
Investment partners echoed Rappaport’s sentiment. Sarah Wang of Andreessen Horowitz highlighted Wiz’s agility, adaptability, and market understanding, while Arsham Memarzadeh of Lightspeed emphasised Wiz’s “rocket ship” growth fueled by their cloud-native approach and intense customer focus. Philip Clark of Thrive Capital underscored Wiz’s unique position as a platform company within the cybersecurity landscape and its potential to address challenges posed by AI.
What we think about the startup
Wiz’s $1 billion funding round signifies its prominent position in the rapidly growing cloud security market. The company’s commitment to innovation, customer focus, and strategic acquisitions positions it well to capitalise on the trend towards security consolidation and address evolving security threats in the cloud-centric future.
