Welcome back to the Trident Radar!

March will be a month to remember for many things, but lets just focus on the deals!!

Funding more than doubled from February, with $2.34 billion deployed across the sector versus $1.13 billion the month before. Seed rounds nearly doubled too, jumping from 12 to 22, and they don't look like seed rounds anymore: Above Security raised $50 million, Cylake raised $45 million, Onyx raised $40 million. These are functionally Series A rounds wearing seed-round clothing.

And then there was RSA. 44,000 attendees. 600+ exhibitors. Trident recorded 25+ Trident Talks episodes and held 150+ meetings in 72 hours. Geordie AI, a London-founded AI agent security platform, won the Innovation Sandbox. The after-parties were ridiculous. CISO Karaoke delivered.

Let's dive in.

With RSA now over, I promise to leave you all with one last thing…

The numbers don’t lie.

🔵 900 applications.
🔵 70+ CISOs.
🔵 25+ investors.

CISO Karaoke at RSA wasn’t just an event. It was proof that the cybersecurity community shows up for each other in the best possible way.

The video is coming.
And trust us, you’re going to want to see it.

But first, a huge thank you to the people who made it happen:
Huskeys , Venice , Intruder , Tidal Cyber, Ocean Security, Legion Security, your support made this possible.

And to our incredible team at Trident for pulling off something truly special.

To every CISO, investor, and guest who walked through that door: you ARE the community.

Stay tuned.🎤

In this episode of Trident Talks, Gareth Davies speaks with Aryaman Behera, CEO & Co-Founder of Repello AI, about the rising security risks in AI applications and why traditional pentesting can’t keep up.

Wiz → Acquired by Alphabet — $32B The largest cybersecurity acquisition in history. The largest acquisition of a venture-backed startup ever. A 2021 RSA Innovation Sandbox finalist reaches the ultimate exit.

Bull → Acquired by French State — $467M French AI and secure infrastructure developer. Servers, storage services, security services, and high-performance computing.

Kenzo Security → Acquired by Rapid7 Agentic AI for autonomous SOC investigations. 94% reduction in investigation time, alert coverage from 12% to 100%. Integrates into Rapid7's Command Platform.

Ultra Cyber → Acquired by Airbus UK government-approved cybersecurity provider joins Airbus Defence and Space. 200+ employees in Maidenhead. Creates UK sovereign cyber champion.

Promptfoo → Acquired by OpenAI Open-source LLM testing platform. Custom probes, attack generation, and jailbreak detection. OpenAI brings AI security testing in-house.

Antimatter → Acquired by Databricks Cryptographic infrastructure leveraging secure enclaves to encrypt customer data without code changes.

Becrypt → Acquired by Leonardo UK government-approved cybersecurity technology. Mobile endpoint and cloud security with government-grade platforms.

Leviathan Security Group → Acquired by K2 Integrity Security consulting and risk management. Penetration testing, security program advisory, API ecosystem security.

Exacom → Acquired by Motorola Solutions Communications recording systems for public safety, government, and DoD applications.

CyberFish → Acquired by Trust Stamp Incident exercising and learning platform for cyber resilience.

Chimere → Acquired by Ekinops Secure remote access software using zero-trust access controls.

Outseer → LBO (Clearlake Capital Group) Authentication and fraud prevention. Carve-out from RSA.

Critical Path Security → LBO (Shoals Growth Partners) Cybersecurity services provider.

Cyber Advisors → LBO (Sterling Investment Partners) Managed IT and cybersecurity services.

Spin.AI → PE Growth (K1 Investment Management) SaaS security and data protection platform.

LevelBlue → PE Growth (Eastward Capital Partners) Managed security services. AT&T cybersecurity spin-off.

Two numbers tell the story of March 2026.

Capital raised more than doubled month-over-month. From $1 billion in February to $2.3 billion in March, a 108% increase. And seed rounds nearly doubled too, jumping from 12 to 22.

But here's what makes it interesting: those seed rounds don't look like seed rounds anymore.

Above Security raised $50 million at seed. Cylake raised $45 million at seed. Onyx raised $40 million at seed. These are functionally Series A rounds wearing seed-round clothing. A decade ago, $50 million was a healthy Series B. Now it's what you raise before you've named your product.

The obvious question is why. The less obvious question is what it means for everyone else in the market.

The pattern is consistent across the month's largest seed rounds. Experienced founding teams, often with previous exits. Tier-one investors leading or participating. Valuations that would have been Series A territory two years ago. And most importantly, companies that are already generating revenue before they've officially launched.

Above Security had substantial revenue six months before announcing their raise. Geordie AI reported tenfold revenue growth in the two months before RSA. These aren't speculative bets on untested ideas. They're growth investments dressed up as early-stage deals.

The structural reason is straightforward: the best founders can command better terms by keeping the "seed" label. Lower dilution expectations, more founder-friendly governance, and the optionality to raise a massive Series A later at a much higher valuation. For investors, getting into a proven team's seed round, even at $50 million, is still cheaper than fighting for allocation in their Series B.

The practical effect is a bifurcation in what "seed" means. There's the traditional seed: a few million dollars to find product-market fit. And there's the mega-seed: tens of millions for teams that already have it.

The other side of March's numbers is less comfortable. Seventeen companies ceased operations, up from twelve in February. That's a 42% increase in companies dying while capital raised more than doubled.

This isn't a contradiction. It's a clarification.

The market is splitting. Strong companies are getting stronger, raising massive rounds, commanding premium valuations, attracting the best talent. Weak companies are dying faster. And the middle, the companies that are fine but not exceptional, are finding it harder to exist.

Meanwhile, seventeen companies quietly shut down. Culminate Security, Fenror7, GuardYoo, ThreatWarrior, and a dozen others. Some ran out of runway. Some couldn't find buyers. Some simply couldn't compete with better-funded rivals.

For founders raising right now, the bar is higher than it was twelve months ago. The mega-seed phenomenon means your Series A comparables are now companies that raised $40-50 million at seed with revenue already flowing. Investors have seen what "great" looks like, and they're calibrating accordingly. The good news: capital is clearly available for the right opportunities. $2 billion deployed in a single month proves that. The bad news: "the right opportunities" is a narrower category than it used to be.

The playbook that's working: experienced teams, clear differentiation, early revenue traction, and a category that investors already believe in. AI agent security had four major raises this month (Geordie, Above Security, Onyx, Kenzo acquisition). Autonomous pen testing had two (XBOW, RunSybil). Non-human identity had Oasis at $120 million. These aren't accidents.

For buyers evaluating vendors, the funding landscape tells you something about staying power. A company that just raised $50 million at seed from Ballistic and Norwest is going to be around for a while. A company that raised $3 million two years ago and hasn't announced anything since might not be. This isn't a reason to only buy from well-funded startups. Some of the best technology comes from lean teams. But it is a reason to ask harder questions about roadmap, runway, and what happens if the company gets acquired or shuts down.

For investors, the returns in cybersecurity continue to concentrate. Wiz's $32 billion exit will generate enormous returns for its backers. The seventeen companies that shut down this month will generate nothing. The gap between winners and losers is widening. Pattern matching matters more than ever. The founders who've done it before, the categories that are clearly expanding, the business models that are already working: these are where the capital is flowing, and likely where the returns will come from.

For everyone else in cybersecurity GTM, the bifurcation affects you too. The well-funded companies are hiring aggressively and paying premium comp. The struggling companies are cutting costs. The middle is anxious.

March's numbers suggest this isn't a temporary condition. It's the new structure of the market.

Ten companies competed for the title of "Most Innovative Startup." Here's the full lineup:

Seventeen cybersecurity companies went out of business in March:

Founding Channel Leader
💰 $200K base
📍 Tel Aviv / US Remote
AI-native insider threat platform. Building the channel program from scratch. Founding team includes Unit 8200 veterans with prior exits.
Contact: [email protected]

VP Product
💰 €300K
📍 Copenhagen, Denmark
European cybersecurity company providing a sovereign security operations platform for MSSPs and regulated organisations.
Contact: [email protected]

North Central Enterprise Account Executive
💰 $175K base, double OTE
📍 Chicago, IL
Secure external collaboration platform for Microsoft 365. Integrates file sharing, data rooms, content collaboration and secure email with governance controls for highly-regulated organisations.
Contact: [email protected]

Southeast Enterprise Account Executive
💰 $175K base, double OTE
📍 Miami, FL
Secure external collaboration platform for Microsoft 365.
Contact: [email protected]

Sales Engineer
💰 $100K base
📍 London, UK
Israeli intelligence and defence technology company providing breakthrough capabilities to trusted governments.
Contact: [email protected]

Ready to make your next move? These roles won't stay open long.

Have market intelligence to share? Our network sees deals before they're announced, hiring freezes before they're public, and technology shifts before they hit the headlines.

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