Cyral
acquired by Varonis Systems7 known investors
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Cyral provides agentless database security monitoring across cloud, on-premises, and SaaS environments. The platform detects and blocks suspicious database access, discovers sensitive data, and automatically remediates security misconfigurations.
Also known as Cyral Inc
Founders & leadership
Investors · 7
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Company profile
researched Aug 2026Cyral was a data security software company that developed a cloud-native platform for database security, governance and activity monitoring across structured data repositories in cloud, on-premises, managed and unmanaged environments. The platform used agentless, stateless interception technology to capture and analyze database queries in real time, recording who accessed which data, when and how, and detecting or blocking suspicious queries and sensitive-data exfiltration without requiring software agents on database servers.
Beyond monitoring, the product provided data discovery and classification, unified access controls for users and applications, identity federation (SSO and MFA through existing identity providers, removing the need for shared credentials), fine-grained just-in-time authorization down to the row, column or object level using IAM roles and attribute-based access, user-to-data tracking that resolved service-account queries to the individual user behind an application, anomaly detection enriched with end-user identity and session context, and automated remediation such as revoking excessive permissions and masking sensitive data. Coverage spanned SQL and NoSQL systems and object storage, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, Snowflake, Databricks and S3, and integrated with Infrastructure-as-Code tooling such as Terraform. Sources credit the company with 32 patents in computer security and identity management.
Cyral was acquired by Varonis Systems in March 2025. Its technology is now sold as "Varonis Next-Gen Database Activity Monitoring" as part of the Varonis Data Security Platform, and the cyral.com domain serves Varonis content.
Founding story
Cyral was co-founded in 2018 by Manav Mital (CEO) and Srinivas "Srini" Vadlamani. Mital, originally from India, holds a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and a master's in computer science from UCLA, and worked at Yahoo and then Aster Data, where he met Vadlamani as consecutive employees numbers 30 and 31; he subsequently founded Instart Logic, where he spent over a decade. Both were exiting prior startups in 2018 and set out to work together again. The name Cyral derives from the Hindi word "saral," meaning "simple." The founding bet was that companies of all sizes would adopt automated infrastructure-as-code approaches to provisioning, deployment and data workflows, creating demand for cloud-native security for the emerging "data mesh" of SaaS databases, warehouses and pipelines.
Business model
Cyral sold enterprise software for database security and governance; after the acquisition its technology is distributed as a module of the Varonis Data Security Platform rather than as a standalone product. Sources do not disclose Cyral's pricing structure.
Enterprise software sales to organizations securing structured data; one source gives an estimated $5M revenue prior to the Varonis acquisition. No pricing or contract details are disclosed in the sources.
Traction
Reported traction includes enterprise customers and partners such as Informatica, Turo and Cedar, 32 patents, an estimated $5M in revenue and a headcount in the 11-50 range prior to acquisition, multiple industry awards (two 2022 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, the 2022 Top InfoSec Innovator Award, the 2023 Fortress Cyber Security Award), and an exit to Varonis in March 2025.
Latest developments
Varonis announced the acquisition on 17 March 2025 and has since folded Cyral's technology into its platform as Varonis Next-Gen Database Activity Monitoring; cyral.com now hosts Varonis marketing for that product. Directory data as of mid-2026 shows only a residual employee count for the Cyral entity. Varonis, the acquirer, reported Q1 2026 revenue of $40.8 million (up 28% year over year) and a net loss of $93.2 million, with Cyral's contribution not broken out.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Cyral positioned itself as a modern, cloud-native alternative to legacy database activity monitoring products from Imperva and IBM Guardium, which it characterized as self-hosted, agent-based, costly to operate and slow to deploy. One profile lists comparable companies in adjacent authorization and access markets including Oso, AuthZed, Axiomatics and Okta. Following the acquisition, the technology competes within Varonis's broader data security platform, which claims thousands of customers.
Key differentiators cited by sources: agentless and stateless interception requiring no host agents or appliances and imposing minimal performance overhead; cloud-native architecture able to scale across thousands of hybrid and multi-cloud databases; identity federation and user-to-data attribution that ties database activity to corporate identities; fine-grained, centralized policy enforcement supporting least privilege and Zero Trust; multi-protocol support across SQL, NoSQL and object storage; and fit with DevOps and Infrastructure-as-Code workflows.
Technology
Agentless, stateless interception sidecar architecture that parses database protocols to observe queries without installing agents on database servers or deploying self-managed appliances. Components described include protocol parsers, microservices written in Golang, Java and Python, machine-learning-based user and entity behavior analytics, automated data discovery and classification, and automated remediation. A vendor directory lists Cyral's web/infrastructure stack as including Plausible, CoreOS, Module Federation, AOS, HubSpot Chat, UNIX, Microsoft Azure and GraphQL.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales supported by product-led demos and free assessments, complemented by channel distribution (for example, the BD Soft value-added distributor partnership in India) and visibility through security industry events such as Black Hat and awards programs. Post-acquisition, go-to-market runs through Varonis, including cross-sell to Varonis's existing base and upgrade campaigns targeting legacy DAM deployments.
Enterprises with large hybrid database estates spanning cloud, on-premises and managed systems; organizations subject to compliance regimes such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS and NIST frameworks; security and DevOps teams needing visibility into access across SQL, NoSQL and data warehouse platforms; and companies seeking to replace legacy DAM tools. Named customers and partners cited include Informatica, Turo and Cedar.
Geography
Headquartered in California, United States — founded in Redwood City and later listed at 691 South Milpitas Boulevard, Suite 212, Milpitas, California. Cyral operated as a remote-first company, and one directory reports employees across four continents including North America, South America and Africa. It expanded distribution into India through BD Software Distribution Pvt Ltd in 2024.
History
Founded in 2018 in California (initially Redwood City, later Milpitas). Redpoint Ventures backed a Series A in 2019/2020, followed by a Series B reported in May 2021. The company shipped Network Shield in July 2022 and a new platform version in October 2022, won two 2022 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, the 2022 Top InfoSec Innovator Award and a 2023 Fortress Cyber Security Award, and signed a distribution partnership with BD Software Distribution Pvt Ltd in India in March 2024. Varonis Systems announced its acquisition of Cyral on 17 March 2025, with Gunderson Dettmer acting as Cyral's counsel. The company no longer operates independently; its team and intellectual property were absorbed into Varonis.
Risks & controversies
Sources note conflicting figures for total funding raised ($26.3M, $37.0M, $41M and $41.1M appear across profiles) and for the acquisition (a reported $25M price versus undisclosed terms, and a 2024 versus March 2025 closing date), so financial details should be treated as uncertain. Post-acquisition risks flagged include the loss of Cyral as an independent entity, the possibility that Varonis deprioritizes or re-architects the product, the inability to assess investor returns given undisclosed terms, and Varonis's own reported net loss of $93.2 million in Q1 2026 potentially constraining investment in the acquired product line.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsVaronis announced the acquisition of Cyral to expand its Data Security Platform with next-generation, agentless Database Activity Monitoring. Capabilities cited include agentless context-rich activity monitoring, identity federation with SSO/MFA, fine-grained row/column/object-level policy enforcement, and user-to-data tracking. Gunderson Dettmer represented Cyral in the transaction. LeadIQ reports a $25M price; another profile says terms were undisclosed and dates the close to 2024.
$25M source ↗
BD Software Distribution Pvt. Ltd. (BD Soft), a value-added distributor of cybersecurity solutions, partnered with Cyral to distribute its cloud data security and governance platform.
The Business Intelligence Group named Cyral a winner of the 2023 Fortress Cyber Security Awards in the data protection category.
Cyral released a new version of its cloud-native data security platform aimed at preventing large-scale data leaks.
Cyral announced general availability of Network Shield, accessible from the same control plane that centralizes access to databases.
Cyral won two 2022 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards and exhibited at Black Hat 2022 in Las Vegas.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Cyralcyral.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Cyral do?
- Cyral built agentless, cloud-native database activity monitoring and access governance; acquired by Varonis in March 2025.
- Who founded Cyral?
- Cyral was founded by Manav Mital.
- Who are Cyral's investors?
- Cyral's investors include A.Capital Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, SV Angel.
- Who acquired Cyral?
- Cyral was acquired by Varonis Systems.