ION Crossover Partners Leads $135 Million in Series E Funding in Aqua Security; Valuation Reaches $1 Billion

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 11 March 2021

San Francisco-based Aqua Security, a pure-play cloud-native security firm has completed a $135 Million Series E funding round led by ION Crossover Partners. With this round, the startup has reached a valuation of $1 billion catapulting it into the coveted unicorn club.

The current round also saw participation from Aqua Security’s existing investors including M12 – Microsoft’s venture fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Insight Partners, TLV Partners, Greenspring Associates, and Acrew Capital. The firm has so far raised a total capital of $265 million since its inception.

The company which also has an R&D center in Hyderabad has said that that the new round of investment will enable the company to broaden and deepen its solution portfolio, as well as expand its presence geographically it said in a statement.

Founded in 2015, Aqua Security’s focus on cloud-native security has enabled enterprises adopting technologies such as Kubernetes and containers, serverless, and other cloud-based workloads to accelerate their business while meeting strict compliance and security requirements. It caters to some of the world’s leading organizations including five of the top ten banks in the world, said a company statement.

Speaking about the investment, GiliIohan, General Partner, ION Crossover Partners, said, “In speaking with Aqua’s customers, it was clear that Aqua has the best platform for Kubernetes and cloud-native security. Its ongoing innovative support for the wide range of multi-cloud environments, and superb customer success, have helped customers accelerate their move to cloud-native platforms. We look forward to working with Aqua to further grow the business to drive global adoption and category dominance.”

Aqua Security’s Hyderabad R&D center was established in 2019. The firm counts India as its strategic center and is looking to double its investment in the country in 2021.

DrorDavidoff, CEO and Co-founder, Aqua Security, said, “We delivered on our vision and have a clear direction forward to provide the best platform for cloud-native security.  We’ve shown that our research and development teams are ahead of the market with the launch of innovative products such as Aqua DTA, our new Kubernetes Security Posture Management, and the Aqua CSPM solution. As attacks targeting cloud-native applications are now a fast-growing threat, we are here to empower our customers to protect their investment and secure their future in the cloud.”