The surging cost of cybercrime – expected to jump from a shocking $9,2-trillion to a head-spinning $13,8-trillion in the next four years – continues fueling cybersecurity market growth, both in revenue and the amount of capital poured into the companies working in this space.
According to new research from Stocklytics.com, cybersecurity companies have raised $17,6-billion in funding rounds year-to-date – or only 1% less than in the entire 2023.
Despite broader economic challenges, VC funding in cybersecurity remains strong in 2024. The surging number and increased severity of cyberattacks and the rapid pace of digital transformation continue fuelling demand for cutting-edge security solutions and positioning cybersecurity as a critical sector for VC investments. The Crunchbase data proves this.
During the nine months of the year, VC investors poured $17,6-billion of fresh capital into companies working in the cybersecurity space, or only 1% less than in the entire last year. Of the $17,6-billion in investment so far this year, nearly half – $8,2 billion – was raised in Q1, almost 10% more than in the corresponding period of 2023.
The funding activity practically doubled in the second quarter, rising by 93% YoY to $6-billion. Although the funding activity slowed down in Q3, falling by 24% YoY, cybersecurity companies still raised $3,4-billion in funding rounds.
With $17,6-billion raised in the nine months, 2024 is on its way to becoming the second-best year for cybersecurity funding, following the record 2021 which saw $26,8-billion of fresh capital.
Also, due to the strong funding activity year-to-date, the cumulative funding amount in the cybersecurity sector climbed to nearly $140-billion. More than 65% of that value, or roughly $94-billion, went to companies from the US – with California as the leading hub. European cybersecurity companies raised only one-third of that value, or $30-billion; and Asian companies followed with $11,5-billion in funding rounds.
Although VC investors pour tens of billions of dollars into companies working in the cybersecurity space each year, the gap between the annual cybercrime cost and total cybersecurity spending remains gigantic. According to an earlier Stocklytics report, the global cybercrime cost has grown 12 times faster than total cybersecurity spending in the past six years.
According to Statista Market Insights, between 2018 and 2024, the annual cybersecurity spending jumped from $102,7-billion to $183-billion – a 78% increase in six years. The global cybercrime cost has grown much more than that in this period.
According to Statista, cyberattacks including ransomware, data breaches, cyber espionage, and phishing will inflict damages totaling $9,2-trillion in 2024 – $1,1-trillion more than last year and a shocking 972% more than six years ago.
This cost includes stolen money, damage and destruction of data, lost productivity, theft of intellectual property, theft of personal or financial data, post-attack disruption to the ordinary course of business, restoration and deletion of hacked data and systems, and reputational harm.