The Full List of 18 Cloud Security Unicorn Startups (2026)
The shift to cloud-based operations has created a critical need for advanced security, leading to the rise of 18 unicorn startups in this space. These companies provide specialized tools to protect digital assets from a wide range of online threats.
Among these companies is Chainguard, which was founded in 2021 and has quickly grown to a $4B valuation. The ecosystem also includes established players like Druva, founded in 2008, and Axonius, which has raised $865M in funding.
Below is the full list of 18 Cloud Security unicorn startups at this time.
Top 10 Most Valuable Cloud Security Unicorns
Chainguard builds secure, minimal container base images that help developers ship software with far fewer vulnerabilities. Their platform hardens the software supply chain by default, providing a safer foundation for cloud-native applications.
| Valuation | $4B (Joined July 2024) |
| Headquarters | Kirkland, Washington, United States |
| Year Founded | 2021 |
| Founders | Dan Lorenc, Kim Lewandowski, Ville Aikas |
| Funding Amount | $892M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | Spark Capital, General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, IVP, Lightspeed Venture Partners |
Illumio builds a Zero Trust Segmentation platform to stop cyberattacks from spreading across cloud and data center environments. Their technology is used by organizations to contain ransomware and other breaches by preventing lateral movement.
| Valuation | $3B (Joined April 2015) |
| Headquarters | Sunnyvale, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2013 |
| Founders | Alan Stokol, Andrew Rubin, PJ Kirner |
| Funding Amount | $557.5M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series F |
| Top Investors | General Catalyst, Accel, Franklin Templeton, Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock |
Axonius builds a cybersecurity asset management platform to give organizations a comprehensive inventory of all their devices, users, and cloud assets. Their system helps security teams automatically validate policies and uncover security gaps across their entire infrastructure.
| Valuation | $3B (Joined March 2021) |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States |
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Avidor Bartov, Dean Sysman, Ofri Shur |
| Funding Amount | $865M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Vertex Ventures, ICONIQ Growth |
Sysdig created a cloud security platform that gives teams a single view of risk by using runtime insights. Their open source projects, Falco and sysdig OSS, are widely used standards for detecting threats in container and cloud environments.
| Valuation | $3B (Joined April 2021) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2013 |
| Founders | Loris Degioanni |
| Funding Amount | $729.5M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series G |
| Top Investors | Accel, Bain Capital Ventures, Permira, Insight Partners, Goldman Sachs |
Exabeam develops a security operations platform that uses AI-powered analytics to help teams detect and respond to cyberattacks. They are known for automating threat detection and investigation, which allows security teams to more efficiently manage security incidents.
| Valuation | $2B |
| Headquarters | Foster City, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2013 |
| Founders | Domingo Mihovilovic, Nir Polak, Sylvain Gil |
| Funding Amount | $391M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Cisco Investments, Sapphire Ventures, Acrew Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest |
Aviatrix develops a platform for secure cloud networking, designed for enterprises that operate across multiple cloud environments. Their solution provides the visibility and security controls needed to build a consistent network architecture, simplifying operations for teams working with different cloud providers.
| Valuation | $2B (Joined September 2021) |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Sherry Wei |
| Funding Amount | $340.8M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | TCV, Tiger Global Management, CRV, Insight Partners, General Catalyst |
Orca Security builds an agentless security platform to protect workloads across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Their technology gives security teams deep visibility into their cloud infrastructure without the operational overhead of deploying and maintaining agents.
| Valuation | $2B (Joined March 2021) |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Year Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Avi Shua, Ety Spiegel Hubara, Gil Geron, Hadas Amitay, Liran Antebi, Matan Ben-Gur, Shay Filosof, Wagde Zabit |
| Funding Amount | $632M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | ICONIQ Capital, Redpoint, Temasek Holdings, Adams Street Partners, ICONIQ Growth |
Druva delivers a SaaS platform to protect and manage enterprise data across endpoint, data center, and cloud workloads. This single platform approach simplifies data management and helps ensure security and compliance for modern businesses.
| Valuation | $2B (Joined June 2019) |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2008 |
| Founders | Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate, Ramani Kothandaraman |
| Funding Amount | $475M |
| Company Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series H |
| Top Investors | La Caisse, Peak XV Partners, IAN Group, Nexus Venture Partners, Riverwood Capital |
Cyberhaven builds an AI-powered data security platform to prevent data loss and protect intellectual property. Their technology is known for tracking the full lineage of data, giving security teams visibility and control as it moves across cloud and internal applications.
| Valuation | $1B (Joined January 2022) |
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Cristian Zamfir, George Candea, Radu Banabic, Vitaly Chipounov, Volodymyr Kuznetsov |
| Funding Amount | $236.5M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | Industry Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Crane Venture Partners, Adams Street Partners, Wing Venture Capital |
Expel provides managed security operations through a platform that handles detection, response, and remediation. Their service gives companies access to security experts for proactive threat hunting and managing phishing incidents.
| Valuation | $1B (Joined November 2021) |
| Headquarters | Herndon, Virginia, United States |
| Year Founded | 2016 |
| Founders | Dave Merkel, Justin Bajko, Yanek Korff |
| Funding Amount | $288.8M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | Battery Ventures, Greycroft, Cisco Investments, New Enterprise Associates, Index Ventures |
The Remaining 8 Cloud Security Unicorns
The biggest names in cloud security are just one part of the picture. While most of these next companies are based in the US, together they have raised nearly $2.5 billion.
Some are newer to the scene, while others have been building for over twenty years. Here’s a look at the rest of the unicorn startups shaping the industry.
| Unicorn Startup | Country | Year Founded | Amount Raised | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pentera | United States | 2015 | $249.5M | $1B |
 Vectra AI | United States | 2011 | $352.5M | $1B |
 Panther | United States | 2018 | $140.5M | $1B |
 Lookout | United States | 2007 | $432.3M | $1B |
 Kiteworks | United States | 1999 | $592M | $1B |
 Aqua Security | Israel | 2015 | $325M | $1B |
 JupiterOne | United States | 2018 | $119M | $1B |
 Contrast Security | United States | 2014 | $269M | $1B |
