Pinpoint Search Group, a leading cybersecurity recruitment firm in the U.S., has released the findings of its Q2 2024 cybersecurity funding report. The report reveals a slight increase in the number of transactions compared to Q2 2023 but a significant increase in the total amount of funding raised. The rise in funding year over year is a positive indicator for an industry that has undergone considerable changes over the past year.
In Q2 2024, Pinpoint Search Group’s research team recorded 120 transactions in the cybersecurity vendor space, totaling $3.3 billion across 98 funding rounds and 22 M&A events. This represents approximately a one percent increase in transaction volume from 97 in Q2 2023 and a 71 percent increase in fundraising from the previous year’s $1.9 billion. (Note: The 71 percent year-over-year increase over Q2 2023 is skewed due to the $1 billion raised by Wiz in May 2024; however, even excluding that round, Q2 2024 still saw a 21 percent increase over the previous year.)
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“The upward trend in funding year over year is not easily explained,” said Mark Sasson, founder and managing partner at Pinpoint Search Group. “Last year was a challenging year economically, likely contributing to the dip in cybersecurity funding we experienced throughout 2023. Additionally, there has been growing evidence of an industry reset, with investors spreading their funding dollars among new technologies designed to address the IT threat landscape of tomorrow, including AI, crypto, and automation.”
Just like in Q1 2024, early-stage rounds (Seed and Series A) dominated funding volume in Q2 2024, accounting for 55 percent. The growing investor interest in budding companies indicates continued confidence in a new generation of vendors addressing not only current but also future business challenges. For instance, 89 percent of enterprises believe AI-powered threats are just beginning. Foreseeing this trend, investors began spreading their investments among emerging technologies last year. In 2023, Seed-stage rounds accounted for 42 percent of the tracked funding rounds.
While later-stage financing (such as Growth Funding, Series C, D, and E) only represented 13 percent of the total deals in Q2 2024, it accounted for a significant proportion of funding dollars, making up 65 percent of the total funding during that period. The interest from investors in later-stage rounds can be attributed to their ongoing investments in established security vendors. These vendors have adapted to market changes driven by increased demand, with cybersecurity budgets rising 59 percent year over year due to the growing number of breaches and cyber incidents affecting more organizations. Since these later-stage rounds usually indicate companies aiming to expand their product lines and enter new markets, vendors and investors can anticipate a rise in hiring cybersecurity professionals.
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