Israeli-led cybersecurity unicorn Snyk has announced the closing of a $196.5 million Series G investment.
In addition to the extraordinary amount of funding — rare anytime and especially during an economic downturn — there are two highly unusual aspects of this investment news.
First, Snyk laid off 198 employees in October, 14 percent of its workforce, after laying off 30 in the summer.
CEO Peter McKay explained at the time that although Snyk’s business is growing fast, with over 2,300 customers, “we now must operate even more efficiently in order for Snyk to effectively withstand the continued headwinds facing the global economy.”
The second unusual aspect: The current investment round was led by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of a Gulf country with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.
“QIA is delighted to lead this round to drive the further growth of Snyk, the established leader in developer security,” said Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO of QIA.
“We’re confident that Snyk’s proven approach and offerings, efficient financial growth and seasoned executive team position the company for a successful future and is aligned with QIA’s track record of supporting innovative companies shaping the future of the global economy.”
Snyk is headquartered in Boston and maintains an R&D center in Tel Aviv. It was included in CNBC’s 2022 Top Startups for the Enterprise, Forbes Cloud 100 List (#20) and 2022 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Application Security Testing.
The new investment round included participation from new investors Evolution Equity Partners, G Squared and Irving Investors as well as existing investors boldstart ventures, Sands Capital and Tiger Global.
Snyk announced that the cash infusion “will drive noteworthy product innovation, allowing the Snyk team to enhance and expand, both organically and inorganically via strategic acquisition, its industry leading Developer Security Platform.”
The statement made no mention of whether this expansion will include the rehiring of laid-off employees.
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