Upwind Secures $400M Series C, Turns Down Datadog Deal
Upwind raised $400 million at a $3.8 billion valuation and rejected Datadog’s acquisition offer.
Massive Series C Funding
Wow! Upwind, the AI‑driven cloud‑security startup based in San Francisco, announced a $400 million Series C round that lifts its valuation to $3.8 billion.
The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from existing investors Greylock Partners and Craft Ventures.
This infusion follows a $250 million financing nine months earlier that valued the company at $1.5 billion.
Datadog Offer That Didn’t Tip the Scales
According to a source familiar with the deal, the funding round nearly collapsed after Datadog, the public observability platform, tried to acquire Upwind.
Datadog did not propose a premium above the $3.8 billion valuation set by the venture capital investors, so Upwind chose to remain independent.
Rapid Revenue Growth
Four‑year‑old Upwind is adding $20 million to $30 million in annualized recurring revenue each quarter.
A source says the company is on track to end the year with roughly $90 million in ARR.
That places the valuation at more than 40 times forecast ARR, a common metric for pricing software firms.
For comparison, Cyera, another fast‑growing cybersecurity startup, fetched an 80 times ARR multiple earlier this year, per TechCrunch reporting.
Market Context and Future Outlook
Theory Ventures general partner Tomasz Tunguz recently wrote that cybersecurity is poised to become the third major AI software wave after AI coding tools and customer‑support solutions.
By rejecting Datadog’s offer, Upwind signals confidence that its worth will exceed the $3.8 billion price tag.
While an eventual sale remains likely given the scarcity of recent cybersecurity IPOs, the startup continues to attract acquisition interest, according to a source.
Founders and Technology
Upwind was founded by Amiram Shachar, who previously sold cloud‑spend management startup Spot.io to NetApp for $450 million.
The company describes its “runtime” security approach as real‑time detection and remediation of attacks and vulnerabilities in active services.
TechCrunch has reached out to Upwind and Datadog for comment.
