SentinelOne, an artificial intelligence endpoint security company that went public last June, announced the launch of S Ventures, a $100 million fund to invest in the creation of enterprise cybersecurity startups.
The launch of S Ventures comes at an interesting time in the cybersecurity market. While startups in the space have long weathered the current economic storm better than most, layoffs are now commonplace among online startups, with new figures showing a recent drop in funding and mergers and acquisitions.
SentinelOne co-founder and CEO Tomer Weingarten sees this volatile market as an opportunity for his company, which is keen to shift its focus from mergers and acquisitions to venture capital. SentinelOne recently completed the acquisition of threat detection platform Attivo Networks for $617 million, followed by the acquisition of server log monitoring tool provider Scalyr for $155 million.
“For us, M&A is a capital-intensive tool,” Weingarten told TechCrunch. “Venture capital, on the other hand, has allowed us to nurture an ecosystem around SentinelOne and in some cases lead to better outcomes for our clients. For us, it is an effective tool that can Driving any type of impact we want with too much money.”
S Ventures will invest in all phases of the launch lifecycle, focusing on security and data companies bringing new ideas to their SentinelOne’s Singularity XDR Marketplace, which integrates cross-vendor security applications and tools into a single platform, No coding or knowledge of how to script.
“Given our very unique strengths in enterprise infrastructure, we’re trying to focus on the ideas, technologies and people that can drive business outcomes,” Weingarten said. But in general, we’re looking for things that can make a positive impact. , is mission-oriented and can have a positive impact. “
S Ventures has invested in several startups, including API email security platform Armorblox and continuous cyber asset management and control platform Noetic Cyber. The startups join a bumper list of S Ventures portfolio companies, including Torq, a no-code security automation platform that accelerates complex threat response workflows, and a platform that provides complete data observability across public clouds to reduce attack surfaces and detect real situations Laminar – Time Data Breach.
“When we work with these companies, we advise and we have some of the best operators in the business, so it’s to help them scale,” Weingarten added. “This is to help them not make the mistakes we may have made over the years.”
Rob Salvagno, head of corporate development at SentinelOne, will manage the fund, which is backed by David Kellenberger in the US and Iren Reznikov, the firm’s head of corporate development and venture capital in Israel.
