With cyber threats on the rise, companies are intensifying their focus on security solutions, and investors are eager to support innovative players in this space. Upwind, a cybersecurity company specializing in cloud infrastructure protection, is finalizing a $100 million Series B funding round at a valuation expected to land between $850 and $900 million post-money, sources confirmed with TechCrunch.
This funding round, which includes both new and existing backers, is led by Craft Ventures, Greylock, CyberStarts, and Leaders Fund, with support from notable investors like Omri Casspi’s Sheva Fund and NBA star Steph Curry’s Penny Jar. The deal, expected to conclude in the coming days, may include additional investors joining before it officially closes.
This Series B marks a milestone for Upwind, which has rapidly expanded its client base with “dozens” of Fortune 500 companies and scaled its team to about 160 employees. The company’s previous funding of approximately $77 million included a $50 million investment as recently as September 2023, with its last valuation at $300 million. Upwind intends to allocate the new funding to expand its R&D capabilities and workforce, with a goal of hiring around 100 new employees in Israel, San Francisco, and Iceland.
Founded by Amiram Shachar — the same visionary who sold his previous venture, Spot.io, to NetApp for $450 million — Upwind is part of a wave of Israel-founded cybersecurity firms led by former military intelligence professionals. Upwind’s focus is on cloud vulnerability management, a critical area in modern cybersecurity. Its technology helps clients reduce the overwhelming volume of alerts generated by threat detection tools by up to 90%, enabling security teams to focus on the most pressing issues.
Upwind’s platform delivers a comprehensive suite of tools addressing various facets of cloud security: cloud services, workload protection, and application security. This interconnected platform approach allows the company to tackle everything from identity and access management to container security and API vulnerability management, providing a holistic solution that reduces security noise and strengthens threat response.
