Orca Security
Unicorn · $1.8BPortland, US · Founded 2019 · 523 employees on LinkedIn · 11 known investors
Orca Security offers an agentless cloud security platform (CNAPP) that scans cloud accounts, code, containers, and AI workloads to detect, prioritize, and remediate risks from development through runtime. It serves enterprises, from Fortune 500 companies to cloud-native businesses, consolidating tools like SAST, SCA, and container security into a single platform.
Also known as Orca
Founders & leadership
Investors · 11
Valuation · disclosed
Disclosed eventsSource: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed — follow each entry's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Orca Security provides an agentless cloud security platform built around its SideScanning technology, which is used to inventory public cloud assets and surface risks without deploying agents on workloads. The platform covers virtual machines, containers, serverless functions and other cloud assets, and addresses misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, lateral movement exposure and sensitive data exposure. Capabilities described include full workload and data protection, cloud security posture management, vulnerability management, continuous compliance, and attack path analysis that visualizes chains or "toxic combinations" of risks leading to critical assets.
The platform is positioned as a consolidation play, replacing multiple siloed security tools with a single system that provides full-stack visibility and context on relationships between assets. It also supports shift-left workflows by tracing production risks back to the originating source code repository or developer so issues can be remediated before deployment. On Google Cloud, Orca states support for more than 100 Google services with native integrations to Google Workspace, Chronicle, Security Command Center, SSO and Pub/Sub, plus generative AI search and remediation features built on Google's Gemini/Vertex AI (Agent Platform) offerings.
Founding story
Orca Security was founded in 2019 by former Check Point employees. Contrary Research describes the founders as army veterans pursuing agentless cloud security, and names Avi Shua (CEO) and Gil Geron (CPO) as founders; the company name was said to be inspired by orca whales, whose pod-based social behavior reflected the founders' aspiration to make security a collaborative effort between companies and customers. Calcalist reports a founding team of eight, all former Check Point employees: Avi Shua, Gil Geron, senior architects Matan Ben Gur and Liran Antebi, senior software engineers Hadas Amitay, Wagde Zabit and Shay Filosof, and success manager Eti Spiegel-Khobra; the company was formed when two separate groups of Check Point entrepreneurs, one of six and one of two, came together. Shua studied computer science and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, spent eight years in the Israel Defense Forces as a software developer and later built an intelligence system, received the 2007 Israel Security Award, and joined Check Point in 2008, becoming chief technologist in 2016 before leaving in 2019. Geron had been Director of Cybersecurity and Cloud Products at Check Point. Co-founder Wagde Zabit, from Kafr Manda in northern Israel, studied software engineering at the Technion, joined Check Point in 2005 and worked on product infrastructure and an internal innovation research group before leaving for Orca in 2019.
Business model
Orca sells a cloud security platform to enterprises, positioned as a consolidation of multiple point security tools into one product. Sources describe demo-request-driven enterprise sales, cloud marketplace and hyperscaler partner distribution (Google Cloud), and an MSP partner program launched in 2021. The sources do not specify pricing or contract structure.
The sources do not describe Orca's pricing or revenue mechanics in detail; it operates as a commercial enterprise software platform sold to organizations, with distribution through cloud provider partnerships and a channel/MSP partner program.
Traction
Reported traction is limited in these sources: 453 employees and $630 million total funding as of April 2025 per Contrary Research; a $1.8 billion valuation as of October 2021; published customer case studies with Unity and Clearco on Google Cloud; and a TAG Cyber report cited by Google Cloud stating 207% ROI for the Orca Platform. In 2021 the company said it was experiencing rapid growth and had attracted acquisition interest from multiple parties.
Latest developments
As of the April 2025 Contrary Research profile, Orca remained a private, Series C-stage company with 453 employees and $630 million in total funding. Its Google Cloud partner page describes support for over 100 Google services, native integrations with Google Workspace, Chronicle, Security Command Center, SSO and Pub/Sub, and generative AI search and remediation capabilities powered by Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform / Vertex AI, alongside a TAG Cyber report citing 207% ROI and an ongoing Orca LIVE expert series.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Sources position Orca in the cloud security / cloud native application protection market, competing with agent-based approaches historically dominant among large cloud and endpoint vendors. Contrary Research notes that Amazon and Microsoft have held about 70% of the cloud market with agent-based solutions and that traditional agent-based models are considered inadequate for container-based and multi-domain architectures. In 2021 Orca described itself as leading the cloud security market and said it had received merger and acquisition offers from private, public and SPAC entities; Calcalist reported acquisition interest from SentinelOne, Cisco and CrowdStrike.
Orca's stated differentiators are agentless deployment via SideScanning, avoiding the coverage gaps and operational cost of installing and maintaining agents; a unified data model providing context across assets rather than siloed tool outputs; and attack path analysis that prioritizes combinations of risks over isolated alerts, reducing alert fatigue.
Technology
The platform is agentless, using patented SideScanning technology to inspect cloud workloads without installing agents, combined with a unified data model that correlates assets and risks. Features include complete public cloud asset inventory across VMs, containers and serverless functions; detection of misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, lateral movement paths and sensitive data exposure; attack path analysis to visualize risk combinations that expose critical assets; CI/CD and source-code traceability for shift-left remediation; and generative AI search and remediation instruction generation built on Google Vertex AI / Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales via demo requests and contact-sales motions, co-selling and technical integration with cloud providers such as Google Cloud (including marketplace and partner listings), customer case studies and solution briefs, thought-leadership content and webinar/event programming such as the "Orca LIVE: Ask the Experts" series, and a partner program for MSPs introduced in August 2021.
Enterprises and other organizations operating workloads in public and multicloud environments, including regulated and public-sector buyers; named customer case studies include Unity and Clearco. The company also serves customers through MSP/MSSP channel partners.
Geography
Contrary Research lists headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The founding team and much of the early engineering base are Israeli, with founders coming from Check Point and the founding narrative set in Tel Aviv and northern Israel. The platform supports multicloud environments used by customers globally.
History
Founded in January 2019 by former Check Point employees, Orca Security raised a $210 million Series C at a $1.2 billion valuation in March 2021 led by CapitalG and Redpoint Ventures. In July 2021 Calcalist reported a further $150 million investment from Singapore's Temasek, confirmed by the company in October 2021, when Orca announced an additional $340 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, bringing its extended Series C to $550 million and cumulative funding to roughly $640 million, most of it raised within a single year. In August 2021 the company launched a partner program for MSPs. In December 2021 Calcalist reported that advanced negotiations for SentinelOne to acquire Orca for $2.5 billion in cash and stock had collapsed after SentinelOne's share price fell; Orca said it was not for sale and was aiming at a future Nasdaq listing. As of an April 2025 Contrary Research profile, the company remained private at Series C stage with 453 employees and total funding cited at $630 million.
Risks & controversies
Reported acquisition negotiations with SentinelOne at a $2.5 billion valuation collapsed in December 2021 after SentinelOne's share price fell more than 30%, and accounts conflicted: Calcalist cited an official offer and signed NDA, while sources close to Orca said the NDA related to partnership discussions only and that the company had no interest in being acquired. MSSP Alert noted it could not independently confirm the M&A discussions. The market context described includes reliance on continued enterprise cloud security spending and competition from large agent-based incumbents such as Microsoft, Amazon and CrowdStrike.
Compiled by commissioned research from 5 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.
Competitors · 10
by search overlap
Companies competing with Orca Security for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsCalcalist reported that SentinelOne was in advanced negotiations to acquire Orca Security for $2.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, but the talks ended after SentinelOne's share price fell more than 30% from its November 12 peak. Orca stated the company is not for sale; sources close to Orca said an NDA with SentinelOne related to partnership discussions. Cisco and CrowdStrike were also reported to have shown acquisition interest. SentinelOne declined to comment and MSSP Alert did not independently confirm the discussions.
$2.5B source ↗
Orca announced in October 2021 that it raised an additional $340 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, taking its extended Series C round to $550 million. The round included a $150 million investment from Singapore-based Temasek, first reported in July 2021 and confirmed by Orca in October.
$340M source ↗
Orca Security launched a partner program for managed service providers in August 2021.
Orca revealed in March 2021 that it raised a $210 million Series C at a $1.2 billion valuation, led by Alphabet's independent growth fund CapitalG and Redpoint Ventures.
$210M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 5
primary sources listed
- Orca Security | Google Cloudcloud.google.com · web
5 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Orca Security do?
- Agentless cloud security company whose SideScanning-based platform detects and prioritizes risks across multicloud environments.
- Who founded Orca Security?
- Orca Security was founded by Gil Geron, Avi Shua, Ety Spiegel Hubara, Liran Antebi, Matan Ben Gur, Matan Ben-Gur, Shay Filosof, Wagde Zabit in 2019.
- Who are Orca Security's investors?
- Orca Security's investors include CapitalG, Cisco Investments, Flyover Capital, Harmony Partners, ICONIQ, Lauder Partners, Merlin Ventures, Notable Capital and 3 more.
- Where is Orca Security headquartered?
- Orca Security is headquartered in Portland, US.