The Top Cybersecurity Startups of 2020 You Might Not Have Heard Of

By Bruce Harpham | Tuesday, 29 December 2020 | Startup, Tech

There are more than 1,100 cybersecurity startups tracked by Crunchbase. Only a fraction of those companies will go on to succeed. Here are some of the few companies we're watching based on their success with fundraising this year.

1. Beyond Identity

In December 2020, Beyond Identity announced it had raised $75 million in funding. The company's investors include New Enterprise Associates and Koch Disruptive Technologies. The company was established earlier in 2020. Koch Disruptive Technologies is the investment arm of Koch Industries, one of the largest privately-owned companies in the United States, with an estimated 130,000 employees.

Based in New York, Beyond Security is working to build "passwordless security." By replacing passwords with security certificates and asymmetric keys, Beyond Identity aims to reduce the pain associated with relying on passwords for security. The company's pricing starts at $3 per user per month.

Beyond Identity relies on partnerships with other technology companies to grow. Beyond Identity's products are compatible with Ping Identity, Okta, and Microsoft.

2. TEHTRIS

Established in France, TEHTRIS raised €20 million ($23.7 million) in its series A funding in November 2020.

Since its founding in 2010, the company has developed security products for mobile devices (Android and Apple), network detection and response, infrastructure security, and other uses. The company's products have served customers in 60 countries in the past year, detected 2.1 million mobile threats, and analyzed 6.5 billion potential security events.

The lead investor in TEHTRIS is ACE Management, an investment bank based in Paris, France. The organization has also invested in the Series C round for EclecticIQ. Headquartered in the Netherlands, EclecticIQ offers security products such as threat intelligence.

3. Sevco Security

Founded in Austin, Texas, this brand new cybersecurity startup raised $6.7 million in funding in May 2020. The company's investors have not been disclosed. Jeffrey Gray, co-founder, and CEO of Sevco, previously served as chief operating officer at Sumo Logic. Also, Gray worked as an engineer and product manager at Carbon Black on its endpoint protection product.

Like Beyond, Sevco Security is operating in "stealth mode" at this time. The company's website states that it is working on "cybersecurity situational awareness for IT and security operations teams."

4. Beyond

Founded in Israel, Beyond is a brand new company that has already attracted $6 million in funding. CEO Assaf Rappaport, former head of R&D at Microsoft Israel, established the company in 2020.

Investors in Beyond include Sequoia Capital Israel and Cyberstars Venture Funds Ltd. Sequoia Capital Israel is an Israel-based investment fund, and some of its successful exits include Moovit (a public transit app), Armis Security (internet of things security), and Amobee (marketing technology).

Note that the company can be considered to be in "stealth mode" because there is no information on the company's products or target market on its website at this time.

5. SOC.OS

SOC.OS, based in the United Kingdom, raised £2 million ($2.66 million) in July 2020 in its seed round. The company's investors are Hoxton Ventures and Speedinvest. SOC.OS's technology has a unique advantage compared to other companies profiled here. The company is considered a spin-off from BAE Systems Applied Intelligence. BAE Systems is a British multinational company in the aerospace and defense industry. BAE has 85,000 employees and earned £18 billion ($25 billion) in 2019.

SOC's product helps companies manage security alerts from AWS Guard Duty, Microsoft Azure Information Protection, and Darktrace. Essentially, SOC. OS's product helps corporate users to become more productive in managing IT security alerts to avoid drowning in irrelevant alerts from multiple tools.

The Future of Cybersecurity Looks Bright

Every new development in technology — autonomous vehicles, drones, mobile devices, and beyond — has security problems. At the same time, the costs of IT security failures are increasing. An IBM study recently estimated that data breaches in the United States cost an average of $8.6 million each time.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global IT security software market was worth $119 billion in 2019 and may reach $281 billion by 2027. If these startups can secure a fraction of that market, they will be on the path to billions in revenue.

About the Author

Bruce Harpham

Bruce Harpham is an author and marketing consultant based in Canada. His first book "Project Managers At Work" shared real-world success lessons from NASA, Google, and other organizations. His articles have been published in CIO.com, InfoWorld, Canadian Business, and other organizations. Visit BruceHarpham.com for articles, interviews with tech leaders, and updates on future books.