Elle Zoma on LinkedIn: 😍 This might be one of the most exciting posts I have written in a… (2024)

Something is brewing in the Cybersecurity podcast land 👀 👀 👀 ...Let me throw some percentages at you, 24%, 2.2% and 1%. Take a stab at guessing what these numbers pertain to 💡 Quite quickly after moving into Cybersecurity, I recognized there's a pressing need to amplify awareness and drive change regarding the lack of female presence in Cybersecurity. As a recruitment partner to pre-IPO security vendors, I've dedicated myself to advancing this mission. Last year, I created and hosted the first season of Cyber GTM Girl talk where I had the pleasure of hosting 7 inspirational C-suite level females in Cyber to discuss how they have navigated their career in a heavily male dominated industry whereby ~24% (at the time of filming) of Cybersecurity was made up of females. We had incredible leaders take to the mic from Costanoa Partners, Hunters, Vectra AI, HiddenLayer, Cado Security, Wabbi and ThreatConnect. 💜 It has been a long time coming, but we are back with Season 2 and the line up is * chefs kiss* 👩🍳 👌 We are coming in hard... bigger, better and stronger delving deeper into the numbers where less than 2.2% of funding is invested into Female founded security starts ups and less than 1% of security vendors actually have female CEOs or founders. 😤 Keep your eyes peeled as you won't want to miss out on this season. I've been speaking with some of the hottest vendors and VC firms out there in the security space. I am honored to share the stories and the voices of this hugely inspirational line up. 💪 Stay tuned... Episode 1 drops next week 🎙

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🚀 LATEST FUNDING/M&A IN CYBERSECURITY 🚀A little bit light on the ground with activity last week! I imagine there is a lot of wrapping up of summer vacays (major sad face-Chicago winter here we go) and all eyes on the prize with elections coming up in the next couple of months… 👀 Paramify: A Utah-based GRC documentation automation company, announced that it has raised a $3.5 million Seed Round from Album VCand Next Frontier Capital. The funding round will be used to further fund Paramify's product development to bring Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) professionals the documentation tool they need—reducing months of effort to generate System Security Plans (SSPs) down to hours.Cyberbit: A leading provider of cybersecurity skill development platforms, today announced a new round of funding from existing investors, including Charlesbank Capital Partners, an established middle-market private investment firm. This transaction, which recapitalizes the company under solely North American ownership and control, will provide significant capital for future acquisitions, expansion, and product development.Congrats to all involved! 👨🎤 👩🎤#venturecapital #cybersecurityfunding #startups

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Senior Channel Managers East Coast (Major Metros) based who have helped build relatively infant Channel programmes, with experience working with national VARs and a minimum of 5+ years in Channel/Sales... My colleague Maddison Cote and I have something for you. Cybersecurity vendor experience in earlier stage businesses is important. Please get in touch elle.zoma@stantonhouse.com

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🚀 LATEST FUNDING/M&A IN CYBERSECURITY 🚀DigiCert, a leading provider of digital trust, backed by Clearlake Capital Group, Crosspoint Capital Partners L.P, and TA ASSOCIATES MANAGEMENT, L.P, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Vercara from Golden Gate Capital and GIC. Vercara is a leading provider of cloud-based services that secure the online experience, including managed Authoritative Domain Name System (DNS) and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) security offerings that protect organizations’ networks and applications.Chaos Labs, NYC-based onchain risk management company, raised $55M in Series A funding. The round was led by Haun Ventures with participation from F-Prime Capital, Slow Ventures, Spartan Capital , Lightspeed Venture Partners, Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, PayPal Ventures, General Catalyst, Bessemer Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, Kevin Weil (OpenAI CPO), Michael Shaulov (Fireblocks CEO), Anatoly Yakovenko (Solana CEO), Francesco Agosti (Phantom CTO), and Anton Katz (Talos CEO). The company intends to use the funds to accelerate new product development and scale its risk management platform.Pyte, the secure computation platform for data-first global enterprises, today announced $5 million in additional capital, bolstering its total funding to more than $12 million. The round was led by Myriad Venture Partners with participation from Innovation Endeavors, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures and Pillar VC, among others.Congrats to all involved! 👨🎤 👩🎤#venturecapital #cybersecurityfunding #startups

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🚀 LATEST FUNDING/M&A IN CYBERSECURITY 🚀Chalking up the last 2 weeks here given Blackhat was last week…. Let's see what the security world has been up to.Protect AI, a Seattle, WA-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) security company, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by Evolution Equity Partners with participation from 01 Advisors, StepStone Group, Samsung, and existing investors Acrew Capital, boldstart ventures, Knollwood Capital, Pelion Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures. The company has also entered into an agreement to acquire SydeLabs (acq. by Protect AI) allowing customers to preempt vulnerabilities in genAI applications and get real-time protection against attacks and abuse while staying compliant.ThetaRay, one of the leading providers of AI-powered financial crime detection technology, has announced the acquisition of next-generation European screening company, Screena. screena (acquired by ThetaRay) helps financial institutions stop wrongdoers without afflicting legitimate parties.Rhombus, a leader in cloud-managed physical security, today announced $45 million in Series C funding led by NightDragon, a dedicated cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy investment firm, with participation from Bluestone Equity Partners, and existing investors Caden Capital Partners, Cota Capital, Tru Arrow Partners, and Uncorrelated Ventures. The round brings total funding raised to over $90 million.Heeler Security- a Bethesda-based startup in the application security space, announced the successful closing of an $8.5 million Seed Series funding round, led by Norwest Venture Partners with significant participation from Storm Ventures.AirMDR, Inc.- a Menlo Park, CA-based company which specializes in AI-powered Autonomous Managed Detection and Response (MDR), raised $5M in funding. The round was led by Foundation Capital with participation by Storm Ventures.OPSWAT announced at Black Hat USA its acquisition of InQuest, a leading cybersecurity solutions provider known for its novel Deep File Inspection and RetroHunting technologies.Fortinet announced that it has acquired Next DLP, a leader in insider risk and data protection. With this acquisition, Fortinet will improve its position in the standalone enterprise data loss prevention (DLP) market and strengthen its leadership in integrated DLP markets within endpoint and SASE.Congrats to all involved! 👨🎤 👩🎤#venturecapital #cybersecurityfunding #startups

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First #Blackhat, first #Vegas trip in the bag 🌴 🎲 🎰 💁♀️ What an awesome event! It was so great to meet so many new faces and connect with much loved faces in person. 🤗 For those of you where our paths didn't cross, lets virtually catch up soon 🕺 A few key highlights:-Lots of chatter about open recs, stay tuned, new roles pending 😍 -I connected with several new people who without this event, I unlikely would have met. New friends = more people I can help 🤝 -The Cyber GTM Girl Talk podcast has some very exciting new additions coming up... keep your eyes peeled for Season 2 👀 Even more excitingly:-I learnt how to play black jack... $21 up overall. (Marginal wins is a win nonetheless okay!) 🃏 -I almost walked a way with one of the most infamous Vegas memories known to man (no, not marriage), but a good old fashioned Vegas tattoo. Thankfully I learnt I didn't loose alllll my senses when I saw the $ amount I was about to drop on that one. 🙅♀️ Huge shout out to Henry Yeomans, Minesh Patel and James Warren- Best Blackhat dream team ever, you well and truly smashed it Stanton House studs! 💙 Thanks for having me Sin City, until next time 😎

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Not me here in Vegas navigating a must have shot with the Black Hat sign…Sin city, let’s goooooooooooo #StantonHouseReppin #blackhat2024

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Looking to speak with COOs who have M&A experience for one of the VCs in my network. Must of had experience selling via a bank with a successful exit and cybersecurity experience. Strong operators are key here who know the due diligence required to spearhead the sell of a business in the next 9-12 months.

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I've had a few conversations recently were there are some great people who are in the midst of a job hunt who are feeling a little deflated at the moment. There is still a sense of some instability in the market (interest rates, elections) coupled with end of quarters/end of years, and its meant some folk are struggling to wrap their hands around what's out there. To top it off, I often hear of ghosting in the middle of processes, low balling offers and just a general sense of not always presenting the nicest of attitudes. If you are in the middle of your job search, here are some pieces of advice I would utilize to garner results:-Keep updated with which Cybersecurity vendors have just received funding. If you don't have access to tools like ZoomInfo, keep an eye on the news, blog postings, articles and so forth. You can also ensure you are connected with key people in the industry who share this information weekly. I know a lass called Elle who shares these updates frequently 👀 -Utilize your network... It might sound obvious but networking is so incredibly crucial, especially when your searching or hiring. Most people will be glad to offer help if they can, these things always come in circles, you'll have the chance to pay it forward too. 🤗 -Ensure your LI is up to date and is serving you in the most optimal way possible to attract the right people. Connect with those who should be in your network, follow businesses that align with your chosen career pathway and engage with meaningful posts. 🖥 -Be Bold and Be Brave- ok, most of y'all are Sales people right? Even if your not, this one is still for you. Don't be afraid to reach out to businesses directly whether its figuring out who the hiring manager is or if there is an obvious TA/HR team, getting in front of them. TA folk, don't come for me but often applying to roles through a job ad means resumes can end up in a black hole and off into the unknown. It can be really demoralizing. I know you want to make sure the best talent are finding their way to you, so within the right context, and for those who genuinely align with the job description, this can help ensure no-one slips through the net. 😌 -Keep going. Like anything good worth having, you need to attack it relentlessly, and often try some a few hundred times before you get a win, its a grind and its hard but there has been others in place before you and there will be others in place after you going through the same thing. The law of odds mean, something will come your way 🙏

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