• Cybereason, a startup in the endpoint security market, has confirmed that it is laying off nearly 100 employees (~10% of its workforce) in Israel, the US, and Europe. Cybereason operates in more than 50 countries and had an employee headcount of 1,500 prior to this retrenchment.

• In 2021, the company’s headcount increased 61% and by 122% over the past two years and expected to expand this to 2,000 by the end of 2022. As of the same date, Cybereason recorded USD 120 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and experienced 200% growth in the US, which accounted for 50% of its market share, whereas Japan accounted for 35% of its market. It is claimed that it over-hired during an aggressive growth phase ahead of its public market debut.

<ul><li> Earlier this year , Cybereason filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US that could value the company at more than USD 5 billion. The company had also already finalized underwriters and expected to go public in 2H2022.</ul>

• Cybereason reported that it had to prioritize “profitability over top-line growth,” as the bullish tech market is currently deteriorating for some cybersecurity startups and has weakened the demand for IPOs. However, several investors remain highly optimistic about the cybersecurity market for the long term, owing to recent high-profile cyberattacks and regulations that are prompting businesses to beef up their security posture. It is also rumored that the company is reducing the cash burn rate since it might be disrupted from going public in the near future.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: Cybereason’s layoffs follow less than a week after the cloud-security firm Lacework laid off 20% of its workforce, citing seismic shifts in both the public and private markets over the past several months. Lacework also shelved plans to go public this year, a move that came just six months after it secured one of the largest ever funding rounds in the cybersecurity industry, raising USD 1.3 billion at a USD 8.3 billion valuation.</ul>