August also saw its fhaver part of investments In clouddata, cyber and AI startups. fundingsand acquisitions took place in significant numbers. One of the largest funding rounds was raised by Abnormal securitythe leader in AI-powered human behavioral safety, which announced the closing of its Series D funding round, with expected total proceeds of $250 million at a valuation of $5.1 billion.
In other news, Screenthe data engine for computing and security, announced it has closed an oversubscribed $319 million Series E round, increasing its valuation to $3.5 billion, up 40% since the company’s Series D round in 2022.
Meanwhile, in terms of acquisitions, a major acquisition was announced by AMDwhich announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire ZT Systems, a leading provider of AI infrastructure to the world’s largest hyperscale computing companies, for $4.9 billion.
Here’s a quick look at some of the funding and acquisition deals that took place in August in the cloud, data and AI space.
Financing/Investments
Protect AI Raises $60M in Series B Funding
Protect AI, a leading AI and ML security company, announced that it has closed a $60 million Series B funding round led by Evolution Equity Partners with participation from 01 Advisors, StepStone Group, Samsung, and existing investors Acrew Capital, boldstart ventures, Knollwood Capital, Pelion Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures. To date, the company has raised a total of $108.5 million to help organizations protect ML systems and AI applications from unique security vulnerabilities and emerging threats.
Data storage solutions provider Cerabyte secures strategic investment from Pure Storage
Cerabyte, the pioneer of ceramic-based data storage solutions, announced a strategic investment from Pure Storage, the computing pioneer that provides the world’s most advanced data storage platform, to help enable immutable and durable data storage solutions.
Abnormal Security Raises $250M in Series D Funding
Abnormal Security, the leader in AI-powered human behavioral security, announced the closing of its Series D funding round, with total expected proceeds of $250 million at a valuation of $5.1 billion. The current round brings total expected proceeds to $546 million and is led by Wellington Management, with participation from existing investors Greylock Partners, Menlo Ventures, Insight Partners, and CrowdStrike Falcon Fund. The latest injection of capital will enable the company to continue its mission of protecting humans from cybercrime through the power of AI, understanding human behavior to detect and prevent today’s most dangerous social engineering attacks.
Chaos Labs Announces $55 Million in Series A Funding
Chaos Labs, the industry leader in on-chain risk management, announced a $55 million Series A funding round led by Haun Ventures. This significant investment, aimed at increasing on-chain economic security, attracted new high-profile investors including F-Prime Capital, Slow Ventures, Spartan Capital, and more.
Data company Cribl closes $319 million in Series E funding
Cribl, the data engine for IT and security, announced that it has closed an oversubscribed $319 million Series E funding round, comprised of a combined primary and secondary transaction, bringing the company’s total capital secured to over $600 million. The round was led by new investor GV (Google Ventures), marking one of the company’s largest investments ever. The investment was led by Michael McBride, GV’s General Partner and former CRO at GitLab. The funding follows Cribl surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in less than four years, becoming the fourth-fastest infrastructure company to reach Centaur status in October 2023.
Mergers/Acquisitions
EQT to acquire majority stake in cybersecurity company Acronis
Acronis and EQT, both Singapore-based companies, announced that EQT X Fund (“EQT”) will acquire a majority stake in the company. Acronis is valued in the transaction above its most recent growth financing round that was completed in 2022. Acronis, a Swiss company founded in Singapore in 2003, is a leading provider of IT solutions for managed service providers, offering a natively integrated and highly effective cybersecurity and data protection platform.
HCLSoftware Announces Intent to Acquire Metadata Management Software Vendor Zeenea
HCLSoftware, the software division of HCLTech, announced its intention to acquire Zeenea, an innovator in data catalog and governance solutions based in Paris, France. HCLSoftware will strengthen its Data & Analytics (Actian) business with this acquisition. The HCLSoftware Actian data platform has seen strong growth in hybrid data management and integration over the past few years. The addition of metadata management, data catalog and governance capabilities will enable customers to leverage these capabilities of the data platform.
Cybersecurity firm Everfox completes acquisition of Garrison Technology Ltd
Everfox, a global leader in high-end cybersecurity, formerly Forcepoint Federal, announced the definitive acquisition of Garrison Technology Ltd. The acquisition integrates Garrison’s hardware and software security (hardsec) capabilities into Everfox’s software portfolio, which includes cross-domain insider threat and risk protection solutions, to provide comprehensive cybersecurity to enterprise customers in the public and regulated sectors.
Mimecast Announces Acquisition of Aware Security Platform
Mimecast, a leading global human risk management (HRM) platform, announced the acquisition of Aware, a leading AI-powered collaborative security platform, as it seeks to revolutionize how organizations manage and mitigate human-centric security risks. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AMD to Expand Data Center AI Capabilities with $4.9 Billion Acquisition of ZT Systems
AMD announced a definitive agreement to acquire ZT Systems, a leading provider of AI infrastructure for the world’s largest hyperscale computing companies, for $4.9 billion. This strategic transaction marks the next major step in AMD’s AI strategy to deliver cutting-edge AI training and inference solutions built on silicon, software and systems innovation. ZT Systems’ extensive experience in designing and optimizing cloud computing solutions will also help cloud and enterprise customers significantly accelerate the large-scale deployment of AMD-powered AI infrastructure.
Princeton Digital Group Acquires Yahoo’s SG3 Data Center in Singapore
Princeton Digital Group (PDG), Asia’s leading data center provider, recently announced the acquisition of Yahoo’s Singapore data center, SG3. Yahoo will continue to host its infrastructure at SG3, while PDG will further invest to operate the data center with industry-leading efficiency as a third-party operator.
Fortinet Acquires Enterprise Data Security Company Next DLP
Fortinet, a global leader in cybersecurity and the convergence of security and networking, recently announced the acquisition of Next DLP, a leader in data protection and insider risk. With this acquisition, Fortinet will enhance its position in the enterprise data loss prevention (DLP) market and strengthen its leadership in the endpoint DLP and SASE markets, in line with Fortinet’s business strategy.
Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Robust Intelligence
Cisco announced a major milestone in securing the AI-driven enterprise with its intent to acquire Robust Intelligence, Inc., a pioneer at the forefront of AI security solutions and a valued member of Cisco’s investment portfolio.
Check Point Software to Acquire Cyberint Technologies
Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd., a leader cybersecurity Check Point, a security platform provider, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cyberint Technologies Ltd., a pioneering provider of external risk management solutions. This will significantly enhance Check Point’s Security Operations Center (SOC) capabilities and expand its managed threat intelligence offerings. Cyberint’s advanced capabilities will be integrated into the Check Point Infinity Platform for collaborative threat prevention and will also be available as a managed service through Check Point Infinity Platform Services.
