May 8, 2024

Big bucks

Hi there,

Cloud security startup Wiz raised $1B at a $12B valuation in a deal announced yesterday. 

The company is on the acquisition hunt. 

It’s looking in two places to deploy its cash:

1. “Ex-unicorns,” or those valued at $1B+ that haven’t grown into that valuation
2. “Superstar” startups on the rise

We’ve already seen two recent moves by Wiz in these categories: 

• The company announced it planned to acquire Lacework (last valued at $8.3B) for $150M - $200M. The deal fell apart last week in due diligence. 
• Wiz acquired Gem Security for $350M last month, which we identified as a promising early-stage cybersecurity startup in February.

And Wiz isn’t the only cyber company prowling for discount unicorns. Just yesterday, Noname Security was acquired by Akamai for $450M after last raising in December 2021 at a $1B valuation.

Today, there are more than 75 cybersecurity unicorns. Many earned their valuations during the heady days of 2021 and 2022. 

And right now, most of them would find it tough to raise another round. Funding to cybersecurity startups has dropped from $27.4B in 2021 to $8.7B in 2023, so capital is non-existent especially for middling performers. 

All of this smells like opportunity for Wiz. 

Here are a few unicorns Wiz could look at scooping up: 

• Aqua Security (last valued at ~$1B in January 2024, a flat round): Its growth has lagged behind its direct competitor Wiz.
• Salt Security (last valued at $1.4B in February 2022): The API security platform has seen a -11% decline in headcount in the last 12 months.
• JupiterOne (last valued at $1B in June 2022): The cyber asset management platform has also gone through recent downsizing (-33% headcount in the past year). 

We’ve also put together a list of 39 high-momentum, early-stage cloud security startups for Wiz’s corp dev team here. The list includes companies backed by Greylock and Cisco among others. 

10 figures

AI funding jumped by 24% QoQ in Q1’24. 

This was made possible by 2 massive $1B+ rounds to…genAI startups.

Surprising, right?

Without these rounds, AI funding would’ve actually dropped by 12% QoQ.

Dive deeper into the trend in our just-released State of AI Q1’24 Report.

Mission possible

We recently released the eighth annual AI 100 — our list of the most promising AI startups in the world.

Every year, folks have a ton of questions about our AI 100 winners:

• What do their financials look like?
• What do their customers think of them?
• What are their biggest threats/competitors?

We just launched the AI 100 Book of Scouting Reports to answer these questions and many others.

It contains in-depth analyses on all 100 companies, including Databricks and OpenAI.

Download the free report here.

Forever young

Equinox is teaming up with startup Function Health to launch a program designed to help folks live longer.

The $40K-a-year personalized offering includes diagnostics, personal training, nutritional coaching, and more.

This duo is not alone in its pursuit of longevity — explore the broader rush for immortality in this report.

Embed time

Businesses across industries are looking to integrate financial tools into their platforms.

This makes it easier for consumers to make purchases, take out loans, and more.

From banking-as-a-service to white-label digital wallets, take a look at the companies making this integration possible in our embedded banking and payments market map.

Industry Standard

Los Angeles Times. Andrea Chang (@byandreachang) and Wendy Lee (@thewendylee) discuss Kim Kardashian’s Skims and quote CB Insights research editor Alex Lee.

TechCrunch. Mary Ann Azevedo (@bayareawriter) covers potential acquisition targets for Ramp and cites the CB Insights newsletter.

Fintech News Singapore. The outlet dives into fintech venture capital trends using CB Insights research.

I love you. 

Anand 

@asanwal 

P.S. What are companies like Johnson & Johnson, Salesforce, and Mastercard doing with AI? On May 16, join us for a live deep dive into AI strategies for these cos and 8 others.

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