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Upwind

Category: AI in Cybersecurity

A runtime-powered Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) that leverages eBPF technology to provide real-time visibility, threat detection, and risk prioritization for cloud-native environments. Upwind was founded in 2022. The company is led by Amiram Shachar. Based in San Francisco, USA. Team size: 100-500. Total funding raised: $430.0M ($30M Seed + $50M Series A + $100M Series A + $250M Series B). Latest round: Series B ($250M, Jan 2026). Key investors include ["Bessemer Venture Partners","Greylock","Cyberstarts","Leaders Fund","Craft Ventures","Cerca Partners","Sheva","TCV","Alta Park Capital","Salesforce Ventures","Picture Capital","Swish Ventures","Penny Jar Capital"].

Founded
2022
Headquarters
San Francisco, USA
Team size
100-500
Total funding
$430.0M ($30M Seed + $50M Series A + $100M Series A + $250M Series B)

Value proposition

Reduces security noise by 90% by using runtime context to identify which vulnerabilities are actually 'reachable' and exploitable in production, allowing teams to focus on the critical 1% of risks that matter.

Products and solutions

["Runtime Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP)","Cloud Detection and Response (CDR)","Runtime Vulnerability Management","API Security & Discovery","Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)","Runtime Compliance & Governance"]

Unique value

Shifts the focus from static configuration scanning to 'Runtime Intelligence,' using eBPF to observe actual application behavior, traffic, and execution in real-time.

Target customer

CISOs, Cloud Security Operations (SecOps) teams, and DevOps engineers at mid-to-large enterprises and cloud-first organizations.

Industries served

["Technology & SaaS","Financial Services & Fintech","Healthcare & HealthTech","E-commerce & Retail","Cybersecurity"]

Technology advantage

Proprietary 'Runtime-to-Code' mapping that connects live production threats directly to the specific lines of code and developers responsible, significantly accelerating Mean Time to Respond (MTTR).

How they differentiate

Upwind differentiates through 'Runtime Intelligence' using eBPF technology. Unlike competitors that rely primarily on agentless snapshots (scanning data at rest), Upwind analyzes data in motion (runtime). This allows it to identify 'reachable' vulnerabilities, effectively filtering out 90% of security noise by focusing only on threats that are actually executable in the current environment.

Main competitors

["Wiz","Orca Security","Aqua Security","Lacework (SentinelOne)"]

Key partnerships

["Amazon Web Services (AWS) Advanced Technology Partner - now integrated into AWS Security Hub Console","Microsoft Azure Partner Network - announced expanded partnership March 2026","Google Cloud Partner","Oracle Cloud Partner","Integration partners including Slack, Jira, PagerDuty, and SentinelOne","Strategic backing from Greylock, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cyberstarts, Craft Ventures, TCV, Alta Park, Salesforce Ventures"]

Notable customers

["Cloudinary","Hired","MoonActive","Yotpo","Siemens","Peloton","Roku","Wix","Nextdoor","Nubank","Agoda","TheRealReal","Bill"]

Major milestones

["Founded in 2022 by the former leadership team of Spot.io (acquired by NetApp for $450M).","Exited stealth in September 2023 with $80M in total funding.","Secured $100M Series A led by Craft Ventures in December 2024, reaching a $900M valuation.","Closed $250M Series B in January 2026 led by Bessemer Venture Partners at a $1.5B unicorn valuation.","Achieved 900% year-over-year revenue growth and doubled customer base since Series A.","Expanded to Australia, India, Singapore, and Japan markets."]

Growth metrics

Reported a 10x increase in valuation within two years; currently scaling team to 300+ employees; claims to reduce security alerts for enterprises by 90%.

Market positioning

High-growth challenger in the Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) and Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) markets.

Geographic focus

Global, with primary operations in North America (San Francisco headquarters) and Israel (R&D center).

Patents and IP

Proprietary eBPF-based data collection sensors and real-time risk scoring algorithms (specific public patent filings not disclosed).

About Amiram Shachar

Amiram Shachar is a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded and served as CEO of Spot.io, a cloud infrastructure optimization platform acquired by NetApp in 2020 for $450 million. Following the acquisition, he served as Vice President and General Manager at NetApp. He also has a background in the elite Mamram unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

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