Why Upwind Is Eyeing $250M of Funding at a $1.5B Valuation

More Dry Powder Will Help Cloud Security Sweepstakes Against Palo, CrowdStrike, Wiz Michael Novinson (MichaelNovinson) • January 21, 2026

The cybersecurity unicorn drought has turned into a downpour.

See Also: On-Demand | NYDFS MFA Compliance: Real-World Solutions for Financial Institutions

Between July 2022 and March 2024, no early-stage security vendors achieved a valuation of more than $1 billion - or unicorn status - as investors began penalizing startups for running massive losses on small amounts of revenue. The freeze began to thaw in April 2024, when Cyera got a $1.4 billion valuation alongside a $300 million funding round, making it the first new cyber unicorn since Vanta in June 2022 (see: Cyera Gets $300M at $1.4B Valuation to Fuel Safe AI Adoption).

Nearly two years later, it's a very different story. This month alone, New York-based hyper automation startup Torq joined the unicorn club with a $1.2 billion valuation in ...