US-Based SentinelOne Acquires Peak XV Backed Cybersecurity Startup PingSafe

US-based AI-powered cybersecurity company, SentinelOne, is acquiring Bengaluru-based cybersecurity startup PingSafe in a cash and stock deal. 

Founded in 2021 by Anand Prakash and Nishant Mittal, PingSafe aims to be a one-stop platform for enterprise cloud security needs. The platform uses cloud APIs and logs to identify vulnerabilities autonomously without human intervention.

The startup claims to have quadrupled its user base in the past 12 months and caters to big names such as Flipkart, Razorpay, PolicyBazaar, SBI General, Tata 1mg, among others. 

The startup emerged from stealth mode in July last year, and secured $3.3 Mn in a seed funding round led by venture capital firm Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India) and its accelerator programme Surge. 

PingSafe provides a next-generation cloud security platform based on attackers’ intelligence. SentinelOne plans to integrate the startup’s cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) into its Singularity platform, it said, adding the integration would lead to a ‘paradigm shift’ in cloud security.

The Singularity Platform provides immediate defence against cyberattacks, offering unbounded visibility, leading detection, and autonomous response. Enterprises leverage the platform to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber-attacks. 

The acquisition of PingSafe’s CNAPP, combined with SentinelOne’s cloud workload security and cloud data security capabilities, is expected to offer companies a fully integrated platform for improved coverage, hygiene, and automation across their entire cloud footprint.

Ric Smith, chief product and technology officer, SentinelOne, said this new cloud security approach streamlines management by eliminating the need for multiple solutions, simplifying triage and investigation with complete context. Unlike legacy CNAPP and standalone providers, it offers a unified platform for managing the entire attack surface, providing real-time interaction and analytics to detect and prevent multi-stage attacks in a simple, automated manner.

The deal is expected to be completed in SentinelOne’s first quarter of fiscal year 2025, subject to any applicable regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Notably, the cybersecurity space has seen multiple high-ticket deals in the recent past. 

In December 2023, the quantum-safe cybersecurity technology firm QNu Labs raised $6.5 Mn in its Pre-Series A1 funding round, with leadership from Ashish Kacholia of Lucky Investments.

In April last year, cybersecurity startup CYFIRMA secured $5.5 Mn in its Pre-Series B funding round from Israel-based VC fund OurCrowd L&T Innovation Fund. Days later, another startup Safe Security raised $50 Mn as part of its Series B funding round led by Sorenson Capital.

According to a report, the global CNAPP market size was evaluated at $5.9 Bn in 2021 and is slated to hit $23.1 Bn by the end of 2030 with a CAGR of nearly 20% between 2022 and 2030.