The Official Top 12 Cybersecurity Start Up Businesses to Follow in 2025

As cybercrime grows at an alarming rate, we see the need for a rise in cybersecurity start up businesses. Studies find that the UK ranks 10th on the top 10 countries with most cybersecurity patents. Other countries leading the way in cybersecurity innovation include USA, India, Australia and China.

What is a Start Up?

A start up is a young, innovative company focused on developing unique products or services that disrupt industries. Founders aim to address unmet needs, create new markets, and scale rapidly, often with the goal of achieving high valuations and an eventual IPO. Rooted in innovation, start ups challenge traditional business models and aim to make their offerings essential to consumers. Well-known start ups include tech giants like Facebook, Google, and companies like Peloton and Beyond Meat.

Source: Forbes

What are the Steps to Launch a Cybersecurity Start Up?

Here are some steps to consider when launching a cybersecurity start up:

• Acquire cybersecurity expertise and certifications, continuously update skills to stay ahead of emerging threats.
• Identify a niche and target market, tailoring services to specific industries’ security needs.
• Create a detailed business plan with market analysis, goals, and financial strategies for growth.
• Establish legal, operational frameworks, and ensure compliance with cybersecurity laws and regulations.

Source: Yale University 

Which are the Global Top 12 Cybersecurity Start Up Businesses to Follow?

Any cybersecurity enthusiast and aspirant must consider following the work of these official Top 12 Cybersecurity Start Ups, paving the way for cybersecurity innovation:

• Cyware
• NordSecurity
• Snyk
• Orca Security
• Torq
• Abnormal Security
• Cycode
• GitGuardian
• Cado Security
• Cowbell
• Aembit
• Mitiga

1. Cyware

Cyware is transforming the cybersecurity start up landscape with its full-stack cyber-fusion solutions. By enabling secure collaboration, enhancing threat visibility, and automating threat analysis, Cyware empowers organisations, including Fortune 500 firms and government agencies, to proactively respond to cyber threats while retaining crucial human judgement in decision-making.

2.NordSecurity

NordSecurity is a top cybersecurity start up due to its user-friendly, privacy-focused products like NordVPN, NordLayer, and NordPass. Its commitment to security, strong customer base, and $1 billion unicorn status following a $100M funding round in 2022 make it a leader in the cybersecurity space.

3. Snyk

Snyk stands out as a leading cybersecurity start up by empowering developers to build secure applications with a developer-first approach. It helps organisations secure everything from code to cloud, serving major customers like Google and Salesforce. Recognised on Forbes Cloud 100, it continues to disrupt the industry.

4. Orca Security

Orca Security is a top cybersecurity start up, known for its agentless cloud security platform. It helps organisations detect and fix security risks across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Kubernetes. Trusted globally, Orca was ranked #24 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list for transforming the cloud security landscape.

5. Torq

Torq is transforming cybersecurity by offering a no-code platform that automates security workflows across systems like EDR, XDR, and SIEM. This enables organisations to streamline tasks such as cloud security, phishing response, and threat-hunting, reducing manual efforts and enhancing response times, improving overall security posture efficiently.

6. Abnormal Security

Abnormal Security is a leading cybersecurity start up that leverages behavioural AI to protect cloud email environments from sophisticated attacks. It was named one of CNBC’s Top Start Ups for the Enterprise and ranked among Forbes’ Top 50 AI Firms to Watch in 2023. These accolades highlight its leadership in AI-driven email security and its growing influence in the cybersecurity space.

7. Cycode

Cycode is a leading cybersecurity start up due to its comprehensive Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) platform. It helps businesses secure software by analysing code for vulnerabilities early in development, offering dynamic analysis and machine learning tools. Its ease of use empowers developers to fix issues efficiently.

8. GitGuardian

GitGuardian is a leading cybersecurity start up addressing the critical issue of secrets leaking into source code. By automating secret detection for application security and data loss prevention, GitGuardian helps developers, security, and compliance teams monitor repositories in real-time, detect exposed credentials, and swiftly remediate vulnerabilities to protect sensitive data.

9. Cado Security

Cado Security, founded in 2020, is revolutionising the cybersecurity start up landscape with its forensic cloud investigation tool, Varc (Volatile Artificial Collector). Varc enhances threat hunting by enabling deep data searches and fast rogue IP detection. Cado’s software offers rapid incident response in cloud, container, and serverless environments with forensic-level precision.

10. Cowbell

Cowbell is a leading cybersecurity start up because it combines AI-driven continuous risk assessment with tailored cyber insurance for SMEs. Its innovative Cowbell Factors offer visibility into cyber exposures, enabling proactive risk management. By providing real-time underwriting and pre- and post-breach services, Cowbell helps businesses optimize coverage and strengthen cybersecurity posture.

11. Aembit

Aembit is a leading cybersecurity start up, providing innovative solutions for automating and securing workload identity and access management. By addressing the risks of static credentials, Aembit enhances security for workload interactions. Backed by significant funding and industry recognition, it has quickly gained traction since emerging from stealth in 2023.

12. Mitiga

Mitiga is revolutionising the cybersecurity start up landscape by offering advanced cloud and SaaS incident response solutions that provide enhanced visibility and 70x faster threat detection and response. It was selected as a finalist at the RSAC Innovation Sandbox for its innovative approach to tackling cloud security threats with unprecedented speed and efficiency.

Source: Cyber Magazine, ESecurity Planet, CRN, & RSA Conference

Who are the Top Cybersecurity Start Up Experts?

The Cybersecurity Speakers Agency has compiled the following official list of leading cybersecurity experts who have advised & run prominent cybersecurity start ups:

Allie Miller – Global Head of Machine Learning Business Development, Start Ups and Venture Capital at Amazon Web Services

Adelina Chalmers – Founder & CTO at The Geek Whisperer’s Associates

Greg Van Der Gaast – Bestselling Author of “Rethinking InfoSec”

Kate Matsudaira – Former Director of Engineering for Google

Glenn Wilkinson – Founder of Kapenta, Polira & Maevro

Hire a Leading Cybersecurity Expert Keynote Speaker Today!

If you want to learn more about how to build, operate and grow your cybersecurity start up business, take a page out of the books of the Top 12 Cybersecurity Start Up Businesses.

Subsequently, you can hire a leading cybersecurity or CISO speaker for your next 2025 event, ensuring that you have the expertise of someone who has themselves created a leading cybersecurity start up business.

This blogpost features keynote speakers who have received positive customer feedback from over 240 cybersecurity related events between 2022 and 2024.