Investing Trends in 2024
Q1 marked a shocking start for VC fundraising in 2023, witnessing a 53% decline in global funding, from $162 billion in Q1 of 2022 to $76 billion. This notable decrease has persisted over the past several quarters. Yet, despite this tremendous roadblock to funding, a select few remarkable startups managed to overcome these odds, securing substantial investments in their 2023 and early 2024 series funding rounds. These startups have not only captured our attention but have also garnered global intrigue as they continue to disrupt their respective industries with innovative products, services, and solutions.
Each of the startups in our “hottest of 2024” list has set themselves apart in their respective industries as trendsetters. Guided by strong, like-minded visionaries and accomplished leaders, these companies are driving their innovations forward, redefining modern technology as we know it.
Notably, we are seeing a trend in successful startups integrating AI in novel, useful ways across different industries. Slowly but surely, artificial intelligence is starting to fill in the gaps of inefficiency in administrative tasks and initial research. Harvey.ai is making waves as the first artificial intelligence model providing legal professionals with reliable assistance in 2024. Abnormal Security is pioneering a new form of defensive AI to counter malicious AI and cyber attacks, also serving as one of the first proactive AI platforms in cybersecurity innovations.
This trend suggests a potential shift in the overall demand for upskilling in 2024. In contrast to the last year which necessitated professionals to broaden their skill sets by learning additional company-integral skills, artificial intelligence is reshaping the job landscape in such a way that this practice will become less prominent. This shift suggests that upskilling may diminish in entry level, administrative, and research based positions, pivoting this necessity towards experienced professionals to navigate the evolving changes in their industries as a result of the transformative impact of AI.
As new trends emerge in 2024, we are keeping a close eye on these companies as they continue to innovate and contribute to their respective industries.
The Cybersecurity Space in 2024
The cybersecurity industry has long been recognized by its intense competitive environment. Our curated list of selected cybersecurity companies features startups that set themselves apart by offering differentiated solutions to combat malware by leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning, or cloud-based platforms.
As new forms of cyber threats emerge at a rapid pace, these selected companies are exemplifying a proactive approach, finding new ways of addressing digital challenges to cybersecurity before we even find them.
Armis
CEO: Yevgeny Dibrov
Armis Website
Armis LinkedIn
Founded: 2015
Founded in 2015, Armis surpassed its goal of raising $300 million during its last investment round for a total of $425 million to be used for strategic platform developments and future acquisitions.
Armis is a leading asset-centric intelligence cybersecurity company that prevents cyber attacks while managing cyber risk exposure in real time. The startup protects organizations of all types: ranging from Fortune 100 and 500 companies to national governments.
The cybersecurity firm reported that it had experienced substantial customer growth over 2023, boasting an 80% increase in its customer base during the first six months, year over year. CEO, Yevgeny Dibrov recently announced that Armis is gearing up for an IPO in 2024-2025 that will be contingent on this year’s developments. With Armis “on verge of acquiring cyber startup Silk Security for tens of millions of dollars,” anticipations are high for exciting developments from this cybersecurity giant this year.
Abnormal Security
CEO: Evan Reiser
Abnormal Website
Abnormal LinkedIn
Founded: 2018
Abnormal Security uses behavioral artificial intelligence and machine learning models to learn individual human behaviors in order to actively prevent and disarm cyber attacks. Among its list of offerings, the startup specializes in email security, using AI to validate credential phishing or vendor invoice fraud.
In 2023, Abnormal was named a Fortune AI 50 Innovator and one of the Intelligent Applications Top 40 for its innovative use of sophisticated AI. Earlier in 2023, Abnormal incorporated a new AI integration that soon became labeled as a “defensive AI,” since it was developed to fend off malicious AI. Using AI to ward off AI is a new concept that CEO Evan Reiser claims will be one that Abnormal will continue to explore and develop in the upcoming months.
As cybersecurity veteran Jonathan Corini joins the Abnormal Security leadership as the new global channel chief, the cybersecurity community should look forward to big innovations this year.
Sift
CEO: Kris Nagel
Sift Website
Sift LinkedIn
Founded: 2011
Established in 2011, Sift recently closed its Series E round of funding at $50 million, expanding its leadership by hiring new CFO, Eu-Gene Sung.
As frontrunner in the digital trust and safety industry, Sift partners with a diverse range of brands to combat fraud. Using machine learning models, the company effectively customizes solutions for each company it works with, adding to its shared data consortium model that evolves by building on observed instances of thwarted cyberthreats. With Sift monitoring over a trillion events per year, the constant refinement of this model ensures that the company will remain at the forefront of the ever-changing landscape of digital trust and safety.
This past year, PayTech Awards USA recognized Sift as the winner of the Tech of the Future award in the Fighting Fraud & Financial Crime category. Days later, Sift collaborated with BR-DGE, an unparalleled payment orchestration platform, to develop a stronger method of merchant fraud prevention.
QueryPie
CEO: Brant Hwang
QueryPie Website
QueryPie LinkedIn
Founded: 2017
QueryPie is the main SaaS B2B solution offered by CHEQUER Inc. Introduced in 2020, the QueryPie serves as a data governance solution that assists enterprises in reducing costs, while increasing revenue in cloud environments by providing data access control, development infrastructure, and integrated database management capabilities. In other words, “QueryPie allows businesses to secure and streamline data access from anywhere…creat[ing] a new way to govern your data while maintaining scalability and integrity.”
Although the startup is relatively young, having acquired $17 million in its last seed investment round in 2021 led by investments from Y Combinator, there has been an expressed need for data collection and governance in the past few years. This startup might just be getting started.
Drata
CEO: Adam Markowitz
Drata Website
Drata LinkedIn
Founded: 2020
Established in 2020, Drata is a SaaS security & compliance automation platform that streamlines compliance workflows and collects companies’ security controls. The startup successfully raised $200 million in a series C funding round to expand its enterprise-grad, automation first solution.
Drata’s Trust Center is a dynamic platform that empowers customers to showcase the health of their compliance programs. The company’s mission is to bridge the gap between compliance and trust through automation, thereby streamlining a path to achieving and maintaining compliance.
Halcyon.ai
CEO: Daniel J. Barker
Halcyon Website
Halcyon LinkedIn
Founded: 2021
Halcyon is the first cybersecurity company dedicated to addressing a problem that most aren’t even aware of: ransomware. As cybersecurity companies strive to enhance their solutions, malicious software developers are concurrently refining their own designs. To combat innovations in malware, Halcyon uses AI micro-models to rapidly train, test, and deploy new protection mechanisms to thwart emerging threats faster than traditional security softwares, which typically require training to adapt to new cyberthreats.
In addition to Halcyon’s prevention service, the platform also provides an additional layer of defense to counteract ransomware infiltrations. Halcyon is equipped with automated encryption key capture and autonomous decryption capabilities that immediately decrypt any infected devices to mitigate the effects of a ransomware attack. In other words, Halcyon effectively draws out any ransomware before it can inflict damage onto its host’s device.
Closing its series B funding round at $40 million in mid-December, Halcyon has entered 2024 on a very strong note.
Descope
CEO: Slavik Markovich
Descope Website
Descope LinkedIn
Founded: 2022
Founded in early 2022, Descope made waves when it secured its seed round funding exceeding $53 million with ease, a remarkable achievement given the prevailing challenge of obtaining investments at this time. This impressive funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and GGV Capital along with Techaviv, Dell Technologies Capital, and Cerca Partners.
In a TechCrunch interview featuring Descope CEO Slavik Markovich, he emphasized that the company’s vision was to, “‘descope’ (hence the name) authentication and user management from every app developer’s daily work, so that they can focus on business-critical initiatives without worrying about building, updating and maintaining authentication.” The platform is set apart from its competition by its user-friendly design: app-developers can set up authentication processes simply through a drag-and-drop interface, eliminating the need to write code at all.
While the market for tools like Descope is competitive, the startup’s success in securing investment and its unique, user-friendly product make this startup one to watch.