Founders: Guy Podjarny, Assaf Hefetz, Danny Grander
CEO: Peter McKay
Launched: 2015
Headquarters: Boston
Funding: $470 million
Valuation: $4.7 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing
Industry: Cybersecurity
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0

As the pandemic pushed more companies to do business online, criminal hackers wreaked havoc that crept all the way to the top, compromising the enterprise software of tech heavyweights like SolarWinds and Microsoft. Perhaps that's one reason why Snyk (pronounced "sneak," and a fitting acronym that means "so now you know") was one of the biggest beneficiaries of more than $3.8 billion that investors plowed into cybersecurity last year.

As more companies seek to bolster and modernize their security online, Snyk offers open-source software that allows the company to identify vulnerabilities throughout the development process, rather than outsourcing the work to a separate firm. The Boston-based company says it has identified more than 4.5 million vulnerabilities to date. It's known as "cloud-native" technology, engineered by Snyk to speed up production and help enterprises prevent future security issues.

In 2019, four years after starting Snyk, the company brought in a new CEO. Co-founder Guy Podjarny transitioned into the role of president and chairman of the board, while bringing in early investor and VMWare veteran Peter McKay to take the chief executive post.

The company largely generates revenue by selling and licensing the software to its more than 700 customers, including Google, Salesforce and Twilio. Over the past year, Snyk launched two new products and says it increased revenue by 200% year-over-year, becoming a unicorn now valued at $4.7 billion. The company also announced a strategic partnership with IBM and made two acquisitions: DeepCode, a Zurich-based AI-powered code analysis company, and Manifold, a Canadian cloud-native marketplace for developers.

In October, Snyk also pledged to begin reducing its carbon footprint to zero by offsetting emissions of 2,400 metrics tons, according to the company's website. In tandem, the company hosted its first-ever virtual user conference, SnykCon, donating 100% of proceeds to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The company has raised $470 million from investors, including Accel, Tiger Global Management, Atlassian and Franklin Templeton Investments.

—Contributed by Riley de León

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