ServiceNow invests $25M in security startup Snyk

Cybersecurity startup Snyk brought in $25 million in funding from ServiceNow this month, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

In a statement, Snyk CEO Peter McKay said ServiceNow has shifted its role from customer to partner to now a "strategic investor" of the startup. McKay told WSJ that the company plans to use ServiceNow's investment to become "cash flow break-even by 2024." Snyk reduced 14% of its workforce in 2022 and currently has more than 1,000 employees.

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(Source: Marcos Alvarado/Alamy Stock Photo)

The startup also received $196.5 million in Series G funding in December. The late 2022 funding round was led by QIA (Qatar Investment Authority) and included participation from new investors Evolution Equity Partners, G Squared and Irving Investors, plus existing investors boldstart ventures, Sands Capital and Tiger Global. Snyk said its valuation came in at $7.4 billion.

However, the latest funding round was about 12% lower than funding obtained in September 2021, according to WSJ.

Snyk is also integrating its Snyk Open Source software composition analysis (SCA) tool with ServiceNow's Vulnerability Response Solution. The integration is available to joint customers and will provide IT executives with a "view of potential security vulnerabilities originating from open-source code," said WSJ.

One major open source security incident occurred in 2021 when the security sector, government agencies and enterprises were shaken by the Log4j vulnerability. Log4j is a free tool from the Apache service used widely across the Internet to track user activity and application behavior.

On this episode of the Light Reading Podcast, NTT's Bruce Snell explained the broad ramifications of the Log4j vulnerability

"With new insights provided by Snyk, the ServiceNow Vulnerability Response solution enables security teams to better collaborate with software developers as well as centrally manage and respond to open source vulnerabilities across applications,” said Lou Fiorello, VP and GM of security products for ServiceNow, in a statement.

Snyk's funding totals $1.4 billion since 2020, according to Dark Reading, a publication run by Light Reading's parent company Informa. The startup "closed out 2022 with over 2,300 customers that remediated more than 5.1 million vulnerabilities," added Dark Reading.

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— Kelsey Kusterer Ziser, Senior Editor, Light Reading