Salt Security, a cybersecurity startup founded by Israeli Defense Forces alumni, closes $20M Series A funding led by Tenaya Capital

APIs at the core of web, mobile and SaaS applications are surging with recent reports showing 83% of internet web traffic is API traffic. With this digital transformation powered by APIs, a completely new attack surface has emerged. In fact, Gartner predicts that “by 2021, 90% of web-enabled applications will have more surface area for attack in the form of exposed APIs rather than user interfaces, up from 40% in 2019.” Enter Salt Security, the first company with a new breed of patented API Security solutions, able to uncover the vulnerabilities unique to each API and identify and respond to attackers before an attack is successful.

Today, the Palo Alto-based startup announced it has raised $20 million in Series A funding. The company is backed by Tenaya Capital and the infusion will enable Salt Security to continue investing in product development and innovation, address new use cases, and expand sales and marketing to meet increasing demand. To date, the company has raised a total of $30 million in equity financing. Salt Security joins the list of great companies backed by Tenaya Capital, including Palo Alto Networks, Armis, Lyft, and Kayak.

Salt was founded in 2016 by alumni of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and serial entrepreneur executives Michael Nicosia and Roey Eliyahu. The startup protects the APIs that are the core of every SaaS, web, mobile, microservices and IoT application. Its API Protection Platform is the industry’s first patented solution to prevent the next generation of API attacks, using behavioral protection. Deployed in minutes, the AI-powered solution automatically and continuously discovers and learns the granular behavior of a company’s APIs and requires no configuration or customization to help ensure API protection.

Salt Security’s innovative approach to securing APIs puts big data and patented AI front and center, revolutionizing application security and supporting the global push to digital transformation. The company’s technology has been integrated successfully into City National Bank, TripActions and Armis, and others, making it safe to innovate by protecting the APIs at the core of innovation and digital transformation found in every SaaS, web, mobile, microservices, and IoT application.

“Salt Security prevents attacks that are impossible to detect with traditional security point-products,” said Roey Eliyahu, Co-Founder and CEO of Salt Security. “We are the only vendor in the space that can protect against all threats listed on the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) API Security Top 10 in addition to other increasing API-related security risks. Our expanding customer base is firmly focused on driving digital transformation, and our solution enables them to innovate and confidently secure the APIs driving critical technological advancements for their business.”

Previously, proxy-based solutions leveraging signatures and pattern matching have been used to secure web applications, but Salt Security’s innovative approach to securing APIs puts big data and patented AI front and center, revolutionizing application security and supporting the global push to digital transformation. The company’s technology has been integrated successfully into City National Bank, TripActions and Armis, among others, making it safe to innovate by protecting the APIs at the core of innovation and digital transformation found in every SaaS, web, mobile, microservices, and IoT application.

“APIs power the digital platforms that connect us to our customers and help fuel continued innovation and integrations,” said Curtis Simpson, CISO at Armis. “If compromised, attackers could gain access to customer accounts, valuable data and the ability to disrupt our business. Salt Security provides us with reliable, real-time, agile security to stop these attacks and protect critical customer data.”

Existing investors Haim Sadger and Aya Peterburg, Co-Founders of S Capital, formerly Sequoia, as well as independent investor Marius Nacht, Co-Founder and Chairman of Check Point Software significantly participated in this round. Strategic investor René Bonvanie, EVP of Strategic Accounts and former CMO at Palo Alto Networks, also participated. To help support the company’s enterprise growth strategy, Tom Banahan, Partner, Tenaya Capital, has joined Salt Security’s board of directors.

“We are thrilled to partner with Salt Security to actively support its rapid growth and focus on product innovation,” said Banahan. “The company’s leadership team has a deep background in the cybersecurity industry, including members of the elite IDF cyber unit as well as serial entrepreneurs who have experience building enterprise grade products and growing companies with over $100 million in revenue. We believe Salt Security is uniquely positioned to lead and define the emerging category of API security and strategy.”