UpGuard

Primary category: vendor-risk.

One-liner — A cyber-risk-ratings and third-party-risk platform that pairs external security scoring with attack-surface management and data-leak detection.

What it does — UpGuard scores an organization and its vendors on external security posture (like the other ratings vendors) but bundles attack-surface monitoring and a well-known data-leak-detection capability (it built a reputation publicizing exposed-cloud-storage breaches). Buyers use it for vendor screening/monitoring, security questionnaires, and watching their own external exposure.

Where it sits in the stack — vendor-risk, governance layer. External risk-signal + exposure detection feeding TPRM, not a runtime data control. Peer of bitsight, securityscorecard, black-kite; complements assessment workflows like processunity / onetrust.

Deployment & architecture — SaaS. Outside-in ratings + attack-surface/data-leak scanning + questionnaire workflow; integrations with GRC/security tooling.

Positioning & differentiators — More mid-market-accessible and product-led than the enterprise-heavy bitsight / securityscorecard; the data-leak-detection heritage and combined attack-surface + ratings + questionnaire bundle are its differentiators.

Ownership, funding & M&A — independent, private, VC-backed. Founded 2012 (Mike Baukes, Alan Sharp-Paul; originally “ScriptRock”); HQ Mountain View, CA (Australian origins). ~$121M raised; Series C $75M (2026) led by Springcoast Partners, with August Capital, Square Peg, Pelion. No acquisition found. (high confidence)

CTO / hedge-fund lens — Day-1-ish and arguably the most approachable of the ratings vendors for a mid-size fund: vendor screening/monitoring plus self-exposure detection in one subscription. Good fit for a leaner team; triage signal alongside real assessments, not a sole control.

Competitors / alternatives — bitsight, securityscorecard, black-kite, processunity, onetrust.

Open questions / to verify — Post-Series-C scale/valuation; depth of vendor-assessment workflow vs. dedicated TPRM platforms.

Sources

• UpGuard raises $75M Series C — fetched 2026-06-28 — supports: Series C $75M Springcoast, ~$121M total, positioning; confidence: high
• UpGuard Crunchbase profile — fetched 2026-06-28 — supports: founded 2012 (ScriptRock), HQ, founders, investors; confidence: med

History

• [2026-06-28] Stub created from seed registry.
• [2026-06-28] Researched; confirmed independent VC-backed (~$121M, Springcoast-led Series C 2026); founded 2012 (ex-ScriptRock); ownership unchanged (independent).