The global cybertech sector has recorded a significant decline in the first quarter of 2023 compared to same period in 2022 as investment raised by cybertech companies globally reached a combined $293 million, a 81 per cent drop from same period 2022, according to cybertech investment stats published by FinTech Global.

The world’s leading provider of financial technology (FinTech) information services, noted that deal activities in the cybertech space also saw a 44 per cent decline to 53 transactions year-on-year.

The USA was ranked the most active cybertech country so far in 2023 with 25 deals announced, and 50 per cent share of global cybertech deals during the period under review. Israel was ranked the second most active cybertech country with four deals, recording an eight per cent share, while the UK was ranked third with three deals.

Meanwhile, OneTrust, which helps companies manage privacy, security, and governance requirements, was the largest cybertech deal in the first quarter, raising $50 million in its latest funding round according to SEC filing from Guido Torrini, CFO.

Meanwhile, this will be the largest funding round the Atlanta based privacy and security software provider has carried out since it laid off 25 per cent of its workforce in July 2022.

Cybertech Deal

Commenting on the company’s cybertech deal, Blake Brannon, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at OneTrust, said the company took a bold step to deliver the world’s first Trust Intelligence platform that enables customers to operationalise privacy management and data ethics, remain resilient with robust governance and third-party risk management, drive a speak-up culture rooted in ethical practices, and demonstrate progress against ESG and sustainability commitments.

On the company’s new enhancements to its intelligence platform, Brannon said; “Trust is quickly becoming a top priority for business leaders, and they are looking for a whole new level of automation to scale their programmes.”

Last year, European CyberTech deal activity saw a 25% decline, reaching 122 deals in total. Global CyberTech deal activity reduced 13% in 2022 from 2021 activity indicating that VCs are seeing more innovation in other regions compared to Europe or there is more potential for growth in other regions and Europe is more mature. European CyberTech investment also dropped in 2022 to $1.1bn, a 35% reduction from 2021.

Acronis, a data protection software vendor, was the largest European CyberTech deal in 2022 raising $250m in their latest Private Equity funding round led by BlackRock. The latest funding brings Acronis’ valuation to $3.5bn. The funding will be invested in growing its sales and market teams, making acquisitions, and supporting ecosystem partners, the firm claims.

The cybersecurity firm offers Cyber Protect Cloud that gives features to detect malware in corporate networks and tools for protecting data from outages. Its software is used by 750,000 businesses and 5.5 million consumers globally.

France was the most active CyberTech European country in 2022 with a 19.6% share of all deals. On 18 February 2021, the French government launched the national cyber-security strategy for the period 2021-2025.

The strategy has EUR 720 million (USD 870 million) of public support allocated to, among others, develop self-sufficient cyber-security solutions in France. Given the strategy will be Implemented by the Public Investment Bank and Export Credit Agency of France, the support will take the form of, among others, state loans or reimbursable payments.