Security News > 2022 > May > Cloud security unicorn cuts 20% of staff after raising $1.3b

Cloud security company Lacework has laid off 20 percent of its employees, just months after two record-breaking funding rounds pushed its valuation to $8.3 billion.

A spokesperson wouldn't confirm the total number of employees affected, though told The Register that the "Widely speculated number on Twitter is a significant overestimate."

We're told the Lacework co-CEOs notified employees via email about the bad news earlier this week, and on Wednesday the firm posted the letter on its website.

Last November, when Lacework announced it had raised $1.3 billion in funding on an $8.3 billion valuation, it set a new record for cybersecurity venture capital, breaking the company's earlier record-setting round from January 2021 when it raised $525 million.

The company boasted a "More than 3x year-over-year revenue growth, a 3.5x year-over-year increase in new customers, and more than 3x year-over-year employee growth worldwide."

At the time, Lacework CFO Mike Staiger said, "Certainly the amount of the financing, $1.3 billion, is unprecedented in the security space, and so we're excited to have had such a large bet placed on us in this space ... It enables us to chart a very aggressive course as we invest in a range of areas in the company."

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