The Future of Cybersecurity: 10 DC Startups Poised for Growth in 2023

Finding a technical position can be difficult. Even more so when the job market seems to be riddled with layoffs and hiring freezes.

Let us help you! We’ve rounded up 10 of the most innovative cybersecurity startups in the Washington, DC area that are still growing.

In order from smallest to largest in size, we’ve included key information that will help you decide which company is right for your next step.

Happy job search!

Zuul

  • Work Policy: Fully Remote
  • Company size: 1-10
  • Tech Stack: Angular/Typescript, Docker, AWS
  • Year Founded: 2016
  • Funding: Seed, private

What problem are they solving? Zuul aims to protect IIoT/IoT devices, controllers, and networks that underpin an organization’s most critical business functions. Their technology is capable of protecting building management systems, traffic light switching, transportation and much more.

What does internal collaboration look like? The team at Zuul is almost entirely remote. They’ve come to look at Slack and Zoom as company “water coolers” that not only allow for collaboration on work projects but also as a means to casually check-in and get a break from daily work.

About the culture. CEO, John Parmley shares, “Building a positive culture is everyone’s responsibility at Zuul… While leadership can be intentional in a top-down fashion, it’s the people who set our company’s culture. I’m especially proud of the culture the team has developed.”

Zuul has been recognized by Cybernews as one of the Best IoT Security Solutions!

Interested in joining the team? Reach out on LinkedIn to learn about career opportunities at Zuul.

 

Onda

  • Work Policy: Partially Remote (Frederick, MD)
  • Company size: 10-25
  • Tech Stack:  React, Python, CircleCI, AWS
  • Year Founded: 2022
  • Funding: Seed

What problem are they solving? Onda’s mission is to make the world resilient to cyberattacks. They offer enhanced global cyber resilience with customized and scalable cyber risk management tools, products, and services. Their team is currently focused on detection and change or upgrade recommendations for their clients.

Who’s on the team? Onda has assembled a world-class team to execute its mission of improving cyber resilience globally. The team brings decades of leadership experience from the insurance, data science, and cybersecurity industries. Here’s an inside look at their leadership team

Want to join their team? Check out their open tech roles.

 

Corsha

  • Work Policy: Partially Remote (Vienna, VA)
  • Company size: 25-50
  • Tech Stack: Go, Swift, and Java
  • Year Founded: 2018
  • Funding: Series A, $15.2M

What problem are they solving? API secrets are getting leaked, sprayed, and sprawled at an alarming rate. They are often shared, rarely rotated and their static nature makes them prime targets for adversaries. Corsha’s identity-first platform gives organizations full visibility into their APIs and the machines that are accessing them.

What’s the team culture like? Corsha has a strong engineering team with deep expertise in distributed ledgers, cryptography, security principles, orchestration technologies, and software design. In the podcast below, you’ll get the chance to hear directly from Anusha Iyer, CEO of Corsha, as she discusses what it takes to establish a strong startup culture.

Want to join the team? Check out their open tech roles.

 

Picnic

  • Work Policy: Remote First
  • Company Size: 25-50
  • Year Founded: 2019
  • Funding: Series A, $14M

What problem are they solving? Hackers scan your exposed employee, corporate, and 3rd party data looking for human targets and avenues of compromise. Picnic automatically assembles, analyzes, and flags this public data for risk, and gives security teams the means to prioritize defenses and prevent attacks. Learn more about the problem they’re solving:

How do they prioritize diversity in the workplace? Marco Gomez, Chief of Staff, shares that “A lot of our team members (including our CEO) are passionate about DEI, so we’ve made it a priority here at Picnic. We’ve implemented a wide variety of DEI-related initiatives, from candidate attraction to employee experience. Our goal is to be the most welcoming and productive company we can be.” 

What aspects of your company culture is the team proud of? “Everyone is kind and always willing to help out their teammates. We foster this ‘team-first’ culture through weekly shout-outs, tight cross-functional collaboration, lots of virtual and in-person events, access to leadership (e.g., AMAs), and company-wide goals that unify the team.” – Marco Gomez, Chief of Staff

Want to join the team? Check out their open roles.

 

Inky

  • Company Size: 50-75
  • Year Founded: 2018
  • Funding: Series B, $31.8M.

What problem are they solving? Phishing and the other fraud tactics used today are compromising email’s integrity and crushing organizations. Most people think the problem is either solved or unsolvable. It’s neither. The team at Inky has set out to fix this. Want to see the impact of Inky’s work? Check out their 2022 Email Security Report.

Hear from CEO, Dave Baggett, about the impact Inky is making.

Interested in joining the team? Reach out on LinkedIn to learn about career opportunities at Inky.

 

Quokka

  • Work Policy: Fully Remote
  • Company Size: 50-75
  • Tech Stack: Javascript/Typescript, Python, Java, Objective-C/Swift
  • Year Founded: 2011
  • Funding: Series A

What problem are they solving? Quokka’s security solution allows enterprises to identify and fix vulnerable apps and non-compliant devices without access to the user’s private data. That means administrators can align user behavior with security best practices… without violating the privacy of their employees.

How do they encourage professional growth for employees? From its foundation, investing in employee development has been a central pillar of Quokka’s culture. This comes in many forms, such as internal lunch and learns, “show and tell” for employees to share learnings and recent findings within the industry, short courses, degree programs, and overall time on a regular basis to invest in your growth. 

Want to join the team? Check out their open roles.  

 

Racktop

  • Work Policy: Fully Remote
  • Company size: 50-75
  • Tech Stack: C, Go, React, Typescript 
  • Year Founded: 2010
  • Funding: Series A, $15.8M

What problem are they solving? RackTop’s BrickStor Security Platform (SP) is a data security platform for unstructured data. It’s the first end-to-end Cyberstorage solution with active security to detect and stop live ransomware attacks, insider threats, and data breaches in real-time. RackTop supports customers with critical data in highly regulated industries including healthcare, finance, energy, manufacturing, education, federal, state and local government.

Hear from Project Manager, Fela Oni, about why engineers enjoy working on the team.

Want to join the team? Check out their open tech roles.

 

Adlumin

  • Work Policy: Fully Remote
  • Company size: 100-125
  • Year Founded: 2016

What problem are they solving? Small and medium organizations suffer the brunt of cyberattacks yet are the most underserved segment of markets. They face sophisticated cyberthreats, growing regulatory requirements with exhausted resources and depleted budgets. Adlumin’s mission is to provide critical security operations in a single platform that these organizations need to protect themselves and remain compliant.

Hear directly from their Director of Data Science, Jeet Dutta, about the problems they’re solving.

About the culture. The team at Adlumin fosters an innovative and diverse culture through training programs, team gatherings, and cross-functional teamwork. For example, every week, experts from different teams within Adlumin host internal ‘Master Classes’ open to the entire organization to ensure employees understand and are educated on the platform and services.

Want to join the team? Check out their open roles.

 

Easy Dynamics

  • Work Policy: Partially Remote
  • Company size: 100-125
  • Year Founded: 2006
  • Funding: Private, $24M

What problem are they solving? The team at Easy Dynamics is on a mission to design, build, and secure the systems that protect people, places, and our way of life. Their core focus is in Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and Information Sharing. Their team of builders, problem solvers, and trusted advisors brings well-architected solutions and management consulting to their clients. 

They were recently named an Emerging Leader by the Cyber Guild

How they encourage professional growth: They have a $2k employee development fund for everyone on the team. This fund can be used for conferences, certifications, or professional mentorships. The leadership at Easy Dynamics lets team members drive their own growth and determine what things they feel are important for their own development.

How they prioritize diversity in the workplace: They pride themselves in building an inclusive environment, but are always trying to push themselves in this area. They intentionally embody Jose Andres’ mantra – how can we make the table longer? Easy Dynamics is committed to allowing people to show up authentically and they strive to be flexible around working norms that suit different personal needs, professional strengths, and working styles so long as they do not interfere with their commitments to customers.

Want to join the team? Check out their open roles.

 

Qmulos

  • Work Policy: Fully Remote
  • Company size: 100-125
  • Year Founded: 2012

What problem are they solving? Legacy, static compliance doesn’t work. Today’s dynamic enterprise and evolving threat landscape demand automated real-time compliance that drives improved cybersecurity and risk posture while future-proofing against emerging regulations. That’s what Qmulos has set out to do, supporting customers in both the federal and commercial landscape. They were recently recognized by Deloitte for being one of the fastest-growing technology companies in North America!

How do they encourage professional growth? Technical team members at Qmulos are encouraged to complete trainings and attend conferences in order to grow relevant skills. Since their technical team already has a strong base of senior members, they are able to provide internal mentorship for newer, younger professionals with an aptitude for learning and a passion for technology.

About the culture. Culture is a reflection of the people working at Qmulos and their shared values. They are growing fast, yet maintain a culture that values achievement, collaboration, and fun. Despite being a remote team, they’re intentional about fostering a collaborative, supportive environment for every employee.

Want to join their team? Check out their open roles.

 

 

Here at hatch I.T., we’re passionate about helping tech professionals land their next role at a growing startup or small business. If you’re looking for more technical openings at an exciting tech company, check out our collection of technical career opportunities.

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