Richard Stiennon Talks about Security Yearbook 2022

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TechSpective Podcast Episode 094

There are nearly 3,000 cybersecurity companies out there–and you can find them all in the Security Yearbook 2022. This is the third annual release of the Security Yearbook by research analyst and author Richard Stiennon. He has compiled them alphabetically, geographically, and by industry category, along with key details such as their location, current headcount, and the percentage of change in headcount from the previous year.

Security Yearbook 2022 is truly a comprehensive compendium of the security industry, but it is more than simply a reference book. Stiennon includes chapters at the beginning of the book that examine interesting stories and trends from the past year. He also tracks merger and acquisition transactions, and funding activity.

Stiennon joined me as a guest on the podcast to talk about the latest release in the Security Yearbook series. The last 12 months have been a bit of a rollercoaster when it comes to funding and growth, so much of our conversation revolves around that. Security Yearbook 2022 reports that $26 billion in funding flowed into the cybersecurity industry in 2021–more than double the previous annual record. Notably, Lacework raised $1,825 billion. There were plenty of other high-profile winners in the funding game, though: Transmit Security ($543 million), Claroty ($540 million), Armis ($425 million), Cybereason ($325 million), and Dragos ($200 million) to name a few.

Fast forward a few months, though, and the mood shifted 180 degrees as companies laid off large numbers and went into austerity mode to extend the runway as the economy slowed down and the IPO market dried up. Lacework–which had grown 272% in 2021–laid off 20% of its workforce. Cybereason grew 87% in 2021 and let go about 10% of the company.

However, according to Stiennon, the weak economy hasn’t actually slowed down the cybersecurity market by much. He revealed that 2022 is tracking toward $24 billion in funding–which is close to 2021 and still well more than double the previous record. In spite of some companies grinding their momentum to a halt and going into austerity mode, other companies are investing and growing like crazy, and there are tons of innovative startups that are aggressively entering the arena.

Check out the full episode for more about funding trends in the industry and discussion about the cybersecurity industry in general.

The podcast itself is audio-only, but the video of our conversation is also available on YouTube if you prefer:

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