40. Snyk

Founders: Guy Podjarny, Danny Grander, Assaf Hefetz
CEO: Peter McKay
Launched: 2015
Headquarters: Boston
Funding: $1.1 billion
Valuation: $7.4 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing, software-defined security
Industry: Cybersecurity
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 1 (No. 15 in 2021)

In an age when nearly everything — from personal photos to financial information and legal records — is online or in a cloud, cybersecurity is table stakes for every business.

But cybersecurity companies approach organizational defense from different angles, with some going after the server and others focusing on the user end. Snyk is going to the source by integrating security into existing workflows of software developers, helping them build more secure applications and counter increasingly sophisticated attacks. The company says its customers can develop applications faster while maintaining security visibility and control.

Snyk counts Manulife, Bosch, Intuit and Shutterstock among its customers. It also partnered with Google Cloud to help developers understand the risk of open source dependencies with the launch of Google Cloud's Open Source Software service.  

After coming into the limelight during the pandemic, the cybersecurity industry has seen a slowdown in funding and in the public markets. Snyk hasn't been spared. The company, which had been reportedly eyeing an IPO in 2022, announced a hiring freeze and went through several rounds of layoffs. 

"We anticipated a tough start to 2023, but we were prepared to accelerate growth in the back half of the year. We now know that the challenging market conditions are likely to persist into early 2024, so we must once again adapt," CEO Peter McKay said in an April note to employees. 

The company has grown quickly, raising over $1 billion from big-name investors such as Tiger Global Management, BlackRock, Alphabet's GV and others since getting its start in 2015. And despite a recent slowdown in fundraising for cybersecurity companies, Snyk raised $25 million from ServiceNow, the enterprise software maker, in January. The announcement came on the heels of a $196.5 million investment from Qatar Investment Authority — albeit at a 12% decrease from its previous funding commitment in 2021.