2022 SC Awards Finalists: Early-Stage Investor of the Year

AllegisCyber combines unmatched cyber domain expertise with strategic early-stage venture capital to give cyber startups game-changing potential. AllegisCyber works closely with executive teams to relentlessly accelerate the growth curb up while bending the risk curve down. The firm has built a global cyber innovation investment platform that opens doors for startups they otherwise would not have access to, and leverages networks of shared intelligence, proprietary deal flows, human capital, and investor syndicates to amplify value through the full lifecycle of a startup. Startups get invaluable introductions to customers, partners, and investors, while capital is strategically applied to scale the organization, invest in headcount and R&D, expand go-to-market strategies, and support new customers in key growth markets.

Since 2013, Dell Technologies Capital has made a total of 143 investments, 33 of which have been in the security landscape. In aggregate since 2012, 20% of DTC’s deployed capital has been invested in security startups. As an early-stage investor, DTC’s portfolio companies use the firm’s investments to drive innovation. Whether it’s doubling down on product development or hiring top talent, these startups are laser-focused on disrupting market incumbents to better serve their customers and help solve real-world problems.

Forgepoint has a total of $770 million in assets under management across two funds, with $505 million deployed to cybersecurity startups to date. As early-stage investors, Forgepoint’s portfolio companies are typically aiming to either create or disrupt existing market categories. The firm partners with startups, helping them strategically utilize new capital to accelerate their growth in three ways:  acquiring and retaining talent across functions (executive leadership, engineering, sales, marketing, operations) amidst the global shortage; further developing their product roadmap, infrastructure, and technical capabilities including potential product line expansion and diversification; and ramping go-to-market strategy and execution through investments in marketing, sales, and channel partnerships as well as industry, regional, and global expansion to new markets as they scale.

YL Ventures leads its portfolio companies’ seed rounds, investing at the earliest stages of a startup’s lifecycle and providing the preliminary resources and foundation necessary for a startup to focus on growth and longevity in the global market. YL Ventures invested $64.9MM into seed, Series A and Series B rounds of cybersecurity startups in 2021, with seed investments primary used by the founders to design, build and optimize their products. YL Ventures also assists our portfolio companies in sourcing follow-on funding opportunities with introductions to our network of fellow VCs and investors, and the firm continues to invest in and support its portfolio companies during these rounds. YL Ventures’ experience, support and resources enable our startups to dramatically decrease the time it would have taken them to reach industry benchmarks and scale at a rapid pace.