24. Orca Security

Founders: Avi Shua, Gil Geron (CEO), Liran Antebi, Matan Ben Gur
Launched: 2019
Headquarters: Portland, Oregon
Funding: $630 million
Valuation: $1.8 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing, software-defined security
Industry: Cybersecurity
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0

With roots in Israel's strong cybersecurity sector and a founding team that includes experience at Check Point Software, Orca Security continues to prove its innovative stripes, this past year getting a patent for its SideScanning technology that helps enterprise customers identify and track multiple risks simultaneously with data from the cloud rather than from a computer program.   

Market growth in cybersecurity has been spurred by a rise in attacks in recent years, as well as more awareness by company boards of the risks and increased business adoption of cloud-based cybersecurity services. Research publisher Cybersecurity Ventures expects cybercrime costs will reach $10.5 trillion by 2025, growing by 15% per year. It further found that a data breach or cyberattack, and the subsequent loss of customer trust, can cause 60% of small companies to go out of business within six months.

Within this threat environment, Orca Security has tripled its customers and doubled its number of employees in the past year, and grown its reach among key enterprise partners. The four-year-old company sealed a deal to integrate its cybersecurity offering within data cloud company and former CNBC Disruptor Snowflake. The startup also expanded its coverage among the major cloud platforms, inking a deal with Alibaba Cloud to monitor and protect against risks from a single centralized tool, and adding to its security customers at Azure, AWS, Google Cloud and open-source system Kubernetes. Notably, its Orca Research Pod, which promotes best practices in cloud security, has helped to remedy 12 critical cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities on AWS and Azure.     

AWS, the biggest cloud player, awarded Orca as its global security partner of 2022, pointing to its tight integration with Amazon Web Services, full coverage from a unified data model and hundreds of shared customers.

Recently minted as a unicorn, Orca Security's investors include GGV Capital, Singapore fund Temasek and Capital G. Its most recent deal in 2021, a $210 million Series C investment led by Temasek, pumped its valuation to $1.8 billion.

It has plenty of top-notch competition, including fellow 2023 CNBC Disruptor company Wiz, former Disruptor Lacework, and Aqua Security, all of them also unicorn-valued companies. CB Insights has highlighted Orca's technology lead in providing advanced features, building organically as a unified platform rather than by acquisition, and relying on the cloud rather than a software agent or computer program.

To further its growth, Orca Security founders recently swapped executive roles. In March, chief product officer Gil Geron became CEO, while Orca co-founder Avi Shua, one of Israeli's tech success stories from prior company Check Point Software, transitioned to chief innovation officer, taking charge of new technologies and remaining on the board of directors. Meanwhile, James Love was recruited from cloud security provider Illumio, where he was chief revenue officer, to a new post as president of field operations at Orca. Additionally, the Tel Aviv-rooted company opened a headquarters office in Portland, Oregon.