Setting a new milestone, SentinelOne, a cyber-security firm listed on the prestigious New York Stock Exchange, has agreed to acquire PingSafe in a deal valued at over $100 million. This marks PingSafe as one of the fastest and strongest exits for a startup from India. The deal which was recently disclosed by SentinelOne involves a combination of cash and stock making PingSafe, a young security startup backed by Peak XV, a rising star in the cloud security market.
PingSafe is “among the fastest ‘seed to significant exits’ Indian ecosystem has ever seen,” Rajan Anandan, who leads Surge at Peak XV, tweeted last week.
“We think integration of PingSafe’s CNAPP [cloud native application protection platform] will bolster S’s cloud security offering, providing a wide range of agentless CNAPP capabilities – S has expressed its intent to be price competitive in the cloud security market and we wonder if the acquisition will play a role in pricing,” Industry expert Barclays wrote in a note to clients.
Founded in 2021, PingSafe has quickly gained recognition as a security company with cutting-edge solutions and specializing in cloud-native application protection. Despite its recent arrival into the industry, PingSafe has over 50 customers in India. The startup came out of stealth last year and secured $3.3 million in funding via Peak XV’s Surge.
The acquisition of PingSafe by SentinelOne will help the company to further solidify its position in the cloud security domain. While the exact financial terms regarding the acquisition have not been disclosed, it is anticipated that PingSafe’s CNAPP (cloud-native application protection platform) features will seamlessly integrate with SentinelOne’s AI security platform.
“SentinelOne is a pioneer and leader in AI-powered security, and we share a common mission to secure the cloud and make the Internet a safer place,” said Anand Prakash, founder and chief executive of PingSafe and one of the world’s top five white-hat hackers, in a prepared statement last week.
“The combination of our cutting-edge CNAPP capabilities with SentinelOne’s market-leading AI security platform will supercharge cloud security by providing world-class protection for multi-cloud infrastructure, from development to deployment.”, he added further.
The acquisition of PingSafe aligns with the growing focus of India on deep-tech startups to position the country as a global innovation hub. With the launch of the second phase of the Startup India program coming soon, India aims to support start-ups that will help transform the subcontinent into a global innovation platform that is on par with the likes of Silicon Valley.
Approaching Cybersecurity with the mindset of a hacker
Established by Anand Prakash and Nishant Mittal, PingSafe is a Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) platform with an Offensive Engine which stimulates real-world attacks setting it apart in a market that is filled with traditional defensive solutions which often drown security teams in noise.
“I’m a big fan of Attack Paths, and many CNAPPs have embraced Attack Paths. They are graphical views of mapped resources with contextual awareness of vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and public access. However, these combinations do not always equate to a genuine exploitable risk. Attack Paths are a good start, representing theoretical possibilities, but they often provide security teams with fool’s gold,” shared Anand Prakash, the CEO of PingSafe.
PingSafe’s Offensive Engine takes risk analysis to the next level. It plays the role of an attacker who can safely simulate attacks to identify and confirm real-world Exploit Paths. This approach cuts through the noise while providing security practitioners with evidence-based reporting and insights.
Led by Anand Prakash, one of the best ethical hackers in the world
Recognized as one of the world’s top five ethical hackers, Anand, founder and CEO of PingSafe has been actively involved in both attacking and defending cloud architectures. With his journey in cybersecurity dating back to 2012, he has gained prominence for assisting more than 300 companies in constructing “secure-by-design” tech systems. Prior to the founding of PingSafe, Anand worked with major software companies by helping to identify vulnerabilities in code, APIs and infrastructure.
His firsthand experiences around attackers exploiting SSRF vulnerabilities and incidents involving subdomain takeovers helped him to understand the shortcomings which was present in existing security measures in cloud environments. Motivated by the gaps he observed, Anand embarked on the journey to create PingSafe. His vision for PingSafe revolves around addressing the cybersecurity challenges of modern enterprises with a unique perspective.
The idea behind PingSafe
PingSafe stands out in the cloud security landscape by adopting a unique and proactive approach, setting it apart from traditional defensive solutions. Unlike many existing tools which focus on achieving “perfection” and often drown security teams in noise, PingSafe introduces an Offensive Engine that simulates actual attacks.
“Current “cloud security” tools and platforms are helping keep these teams busy but not really effective. The result is NOT security for cloud environments.” said Anand, Founder and CEO of PingSafe.
He further added-“We want to give security practitioners false-positive free, evidence-based reporting to cut through the noise. This is true prioritization.”
PingSafe’s emphasis on an attacker’s mindset addresses the fundamental challenge of traditional tools missing actual exploitable risks. By focusing on what needs to be fixed immediately and providing false-positive-free reporting, PingSafe offers a more efficient and targeted solution to cloud security. This offensive approach, combined with its innovative features like auto-remediation and a no-code policy builder, positions it as a standout player in the CNAPP space.
Join The Story Watch’s initiative to create a vibrant community for the startup ecosystem.