The 10 Hottest Cybersecurity Startups Of 2024

Channel-friendly startups offering tools for cloud and AI security, data security and security operations are among those that have stood out during the year.

Hot Startups In Security

While working with a well-known cybersecurity vendor can have plenty of advantages for a solution provider, emerging startups can bring a level of innovation—and energy—that some of the established vendors don’t always bring to the table. For instance, the attitude among some larger vendors in the security space is, “‘We’re popular, so maybe we don’t have to drive a lot of change to our technology,’” said Trace3’s Jason Berland.

As much as possible, Berland said he seeks to work with the newer players in cybersecurity that are showing significant potential. His aim is to evaluate at least one new technology every month. “What I like to do is look at the smaller ones—the ones that are hungry, the ones that want to be a difference maker,” said Berland, senior practice director of identity and access management at Irvine, Calif.-based Trace3, No. 34 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024.

For CRN’s end-of-year coverage, we’ve chosen 10 cybersecurity startups that we believe exemplify the combination of promising technology, momentum in the market and engagement with the channel that could make the companies into lasting players in the space. Our picks include companies offering tools in fast-growing categories such as cloud and AI security, data security and security operations.

In terms of specific criteria, we’ve chosen partner-friendly startups that were founded since 2020 and have had major announcements in 2024—such as a significant product launch or funding round—showing their traction in the market. (Note: We’ve also excluded certain security vendors that would otherwise qualify, such as Wiz, which have already achieved significant scale.)

What follows are the details on 10 of the hottest cybersecurity startups of 2024.

Cyera

Founded: 2021

CEO: Yotam Segev

Cyera offers an agentless data security platform that now combines both data security posture management (DSPM) and data loss prevention (DLP), ultimately providing unified visibility into data and access risks. The startup has expanded beyond its core focus on DSPM—which works across environments including cloud, SaaS and on-premises—to add DLP capabilities with the $162 million acquisition of Trail Security in October. Key partners of Cyera include GuidePoint Security, World Wide Technology and Trace3.

In November, New York-based Cyera announced raising a $300 million Series D round of funding, which followed a previous fundraise of the same amount in April. The latest round has more than doubled the company’s valuation to $3 billion.

Cynomi

Founded: 2020

CEO: David Primor

Cynomi offers an automated vCISO platform that aims to offer equivalent capabilities to a governance, risk and compliance (GRC) tool while also going further by conducting gap analysis, creating customized policies and developing a prioritized remediation plan to ensure that cybersecurity is addressed as well. The MSP-focused platform is tailored toward securing small and midsize enterprises, according to the company.

In April, Herzliya, Israel-based Cynomi announced raising $20 million in new funding led by Canaan to fuel its growth push. And in November, the company hired Ken Marks—a cybersecurity veteran most recently at SentinelOne—as its new CRO. Kevin Baker, CISO at Fortress Security Risk Management, a Cynomi partner based in Cleveland, said that the company is proving how serious it is about growing with the help of the channel by hiring Marks. “It gives me a high degree of confidence that this company is going to go somewhere,” Baker said.

Descope

Founded: 2022

CEO: Slavik Markovich

Descope offers a platform for customer identity and access management (CIAM) that is simplified and highly flexible, according to the Los Altos, Calif.-based startup. Descope’s platform aims to be easier to implement and to use than those of competitors thanks to its low-code/no-code capabilities that provide a drag-and-drop method for managing identities and access permissions. In November, Descope announced the launch of its first formal channel program with the goal of recruiting more partners and accelerating the growth of the company’s CIAM platform. Current key partners of Descope include Irvine, Calif.-based Trace3, No. 34 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024, and Canonsburg, Pa.-based Defy Security.

Endor Labs

Founded: 2021

CEO: Varun Badhwar

Endor Labs aims to enable an improved way of securing the software supply chain, with a platform focused on identifying, prioritizing and remediating risks to the software development life cycle. A major emphasis is on helping developers to securely incorporate open-source software. Key milestones announced by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Endor in 2024 included the launch of a partnership with GuidePoint Security in May and the debut of new capabilities in August that allow teams to better prioritize software upgrades through providing details on the probable level of difficulty of implementing a certain upgrade.

Island

Founded: 2020

CEO: Mike Fey

Island offers a secure workplace-focused web browser built on Chromium, the Island Enterprise Browser, which provides a range of capabilities for protecting data and users automatically embedded within the browser itself. Capabilities include protection against web-based threats, conditional access controls, data loss prevention (DLP) and zero-trust network access to private apps. In April, Dallas-based Island disclosed raising a $175 million Series D funding round led by Coatue and Sequoia, which brought with it a $3 billion valuation. Key partners for Island include Trace3.

Legit Security

Founded: 2020

CEO: Roni Fuchs

Legit Security offers an application security posture management platform that aims to provide improved visibility and security throughout the software development process, including through offering a unified console for code and cloud security. In April, Boston-based Legit Security unveiled a partnership with Herndon, Va.-based GuidePoint Security, No. 39 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024. And in August, the startup debuted what it’s calling “the industry's first AI Security Command Center,” which offers a dedicated dashboard for AI security.

Reality Defender

Founded: 2021

CEO: Ben Colman

Reality Defender offers deepfake detection by utilizing a “multi-model” approach and hundreds of patented techniques to effectively detect deepfakes across images, video, audio and text, according to the company. The startup offers an API that allows organizations to upload large amounts of content and scale detection capabilities as necessary.

In May, New York-based Reality Defender received the “Most Innovative Startup” award at the RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox. And this fall, the startup announced an investment from IT consulting giant Accenture as well as a partnership to co-engineer a deepfake detection service, which will be available from Accenture. “I believe there is nothing available in the market yet” that is comparable to the offering, said Paolo Dal Cin, global lead for security at Accenture, No. 1 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024.

Savvy

Founded: 2021

CEO: Guy Guzner

Savvy aims to bolster SaaS identity security through greater automation, including through the company’s browser extension that provides direct guidance to users for resolving password and other account issues. In September, Tel Aviv, Israel-based Savvy launched new capabilities for user off-boarding that can help IT and security teams to better prioritize user access removal.

At one solution provider partner of Savvy, BlackLake Security, CEO Mark Jones said that the startup’s offering addresses a massive challenge in the realm of identity security for organizations. Savvy deploys rapidly and “gives you so much visibility into your identity and the gaps that are there,” said Jones, who is also the founder of Austin, Texas-based BlackLake Security, No. 221 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024.

Upwind Security

Founded: 2022

CEO: Amiram Shachar

Upwind offers a comprehensive runtime cloud security platform that includes cloud workload protection and cloud detection and response as well as CSPM (cloud security posture management), CIEM (cloud identity entitlement management) and other capabilities. The Upwind platform leverages the San Francisco-based company’s “lightweight” eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter) sensor technology for identifying anomalous behavior and providing automated protection, the startup has said. Key partners of Upwind include Denver-based Optiv, No. 25 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024.

In March, Upwind disclosed that its offering is available as an add-on for the Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS), and in October, the company said it now offers automatic discovery and classification of data flows involving sensitive information.

Torq

Founded: 2020

CEO: Ofer Smadari

Security “hyperautomation” startup Torq offers a no-code method for automating security operations activities. The platform boosts security analyst productivity by completing numerous Security Operations Center (SOC) tasks faster and more easily, and a major emphasis for Torq has been around displacing “legacy” providers of SOAR (security orchestration, automation and response) technology. Ricardo Panez, president and COO of Compuquip, a Torq partner based in Doral, Fla., told CRN that when it comes to “automating our functions within our SOC, [Torq] is light years ahead of other products.”

In January, Tel Aviv, Israel-based Torq announced that has added $42 million in funding—which was followed by the announcement of an additional $70 million Series C funding round in September aimed in part at boosting investments into the channel.