Is UpGuard profitable in 2026?

No public profitability figures exist. UpGuard remains privately held and closed a $75M Series C on 2026-02-26 to fund growth, and it earmarked proceeds for hiring and M&A, patterns typical of a still-scaling, non-profitable venture-backed startup rather than a cash-generative business.

Who is UpGuard's biggest competitor?

BitSight is UpGuard's biggest incumbent rival, with 3,500+ customers and 40M+ organizations monitored, named a Forrester Wave Leader in Q2 2026 (as of 2026-04-22). SecurityScorecard, rating 12M+ companies (2026-07-05), is the other major incumbent UpGuard positions against as the mid-market challenger.

Could AI replace UpGuard's core product?

UpGuard's core work, questionnaire triage and risk scoring, is squarely AI-automatable; Gartner projects 50% of TPRM programs will use AI by 2028, cutting required assessment staff over 25%. UpGuard itself already generates risk assessment reports in under 60 seconds as of 2025-02-26, racing to own the AI layer rather than being shielded from it.

UpGuard is privately held and venture-backed, founded in 2012 by Alan Sharp-Paul and Mike Baukes in Australia. Its Series C, announced 2026-02-26 at $75M, was led by new investor Springcoast Partners with participation from August Capital, Square Peg Capital, and Pelion Venture Partners.

What is UpGuard's valuation?

Forbes Australia reported UpGuard was valued at north of $400 million as of 2024, prior to its Series C (published 2026-02-25). The company's post-Series C valuation following the $75M raise announced 2026-02-26 has not been publicly disclosed.

Has UpGuard had layoffs?

No layoffs have been reported. Available headcount tracking shows continuous growth, from about 267 employees in December 2024 to roughly 386 by July 2026 per Crustdata, alongside a $75M Series C close on 2026-02-26 and active hiring.

Cybersecurity companies · Australia

UpGuard

upguard.com ↗

UpGuard scores and monitors vendor and third-party cyber risk for mid-market security teams.

Losing its protection

Assessed 21 July 2026 · Evidence as of 21 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 21 July 2026 · Checkable from mid-2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Adoption results from Trust Exchange and new Risk Automations and User Risk modules

The call

UpGuard has real customers and a well-funded platform, but its core scoring product sits right in AI's efficient zone and its one true network effect is still unproven.

UpGuard sells software that asks vendors security questions and turns the answers into risk scores, then helps companies manage those risks. It is hard to replace right now because it has loyal customers and ranks highly on review sites, but larger competitors like BitSight and SecurityScorecard can copy its straightforward pricing and tools fairly quickly, and artificial intelligence can now automate the questionnaire part that UpGuard built its name on. The one thing that could truly protect UpGuard is Trust Exchange, a shared database where vendors post their security information once instead of answering the same questions hundreds of times, which could become the standard place everyone uses and give UpGuard lasting advantage, but that network has not yet proven it will work at scale.

Why

AI pressure: RiskXchange and generic LLM-driven questionnaire automation. AI can already fill out and score risk questionnaires cheaply, squeezing the paid work UpGuard charges for today. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: BitSight and SecurityScorecard, with ServiceNow and OneTrust bundling risk into GRC suites. Bigger rated rivals and GRC suites can copy UpGuard's pricing and workflow tools once they decide it matters. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. 2,000+ paying customers, 15 straight quarters at #1 on G2, and daily processing of 100 billion risk signals.

What would change this call

BitSight or SecurityScorecard launches a transparent-pricing, self-serve mid-market product. Would show incumbents can copy UpGuard's pricing/workflow advantage.
UpGuard's Trust Exchange reaches broad vendor adoption or buyer requirement within 12 months. Would confirm a durable network-effect moat beyond questionnaires.
UpGuard NRR reported below 115% in a future funding or press disclosure. Would signal customer retention weakening during platform transition.

Key numbers

$75M Series C raised (Feb 2026)
2,000+ paying customers (Feb 2026)
Revenue estimates range $20M to $72M (2024-2026)

Named risks

Core questionnaire-to-score deliverable is highly AI-automatable, per Gartner's 2028 forecast. Severity: high
No structural barrier stops BitSight or SecurityScorecard from copying transparent mid-market pricing and workflow tools. Severity: high
Trust Exchange network effect, the one potentially durable moat, remains unproven in adoption density. Severity: medium
Major platform repositioning (five pillars shipped Sept 2025 to Mar 2026) carries execution and adoption risk. Severity: medium
Revenue estimates across trackers conflict roughly 3 to 4x, reflecting weak external visibility into actual financials. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
BitSight	contesting	3,500+ customers, 40M+ orgs monitored, Forrester Wave Leader Q2 2026 (2026-04-22)
SecurityScorecard	contesting	12M+ companies rated, adding AI and managed MAX service (2026-07-05)
RiskXchange	gaining on	Markets itself as full automation vs UpGuard's workflow tools (2026-07-05)
ServiceNow/OneTrust	gaining on	Bundle vendor risk into broader GRC suites, pressuring standalone TPRM vendors

Questions people ask

Is UpGuard profitable in 2026?: No public profitability figures exist. UpGuard remains privately held and closed a $75M Series C on 2026-02-26 to fund growth, and it earmarked proceeds for hiring and M&A, patterns typical of a still-scaling, non-profitable venture-backed startup rather than a cash-generative business.
Who is UpGuard's biggest competitor?: BitSight is UpGuard's biggest incumbent rival, with 3,500+ customers and 40M+ organizations monitored, named a Forrester Wave Leader in Q2 2026 (as of 2026-04-22). SecurityScorecard, rating 12M+ companies (2026-07-05), is the other major incumbent UpGuard positions against as the mid-market challenger.
Could AI replace UpGuard's core product?: UpGuard's core work, questionnaire triage and risk scoring, is squarely AI-automatable; Gartner projects 50% of TPRM programs will use AI by 2028, cutting required assessment staff over 25%. UpGuard itself already generates risk assessment reports in under 60 seconds as of 2025-02-26, racing to own the AI layer rather than being shielded from it.
Who owns UpGuard?: UpGuard is privately held and venture-backed, founded in 2012 by Alan Sharp-Paul and Mike Baukes in Australia. Its Series C, announced 2026-02-26 at $75M, was led by new investor Springcoast Partners with participation from August Capital, Square Peg Capital, and Pelion Venture Partners.
What is UpGuard's valuation?: Forbes Australia reported UpGuard was valued at north of $400 million as of 2024, prior to its Series C (published 2026-02-25). The company's post-Series C valuation following the $75M raise announced 2026-02-26 has not been publicly disclosed.
Has UpGuard had layoffs?: No layoffs have been reported. Available headcount tracking shows continuous growth, from about 267 employees in December 2024 to roughly 386 by July 2026 per Crustdata, alongside a $75M Series C close on 2026-02-26 and active hiring.

Timeline

2026-03-03Launched Risk Automations, fifth pillar of its CRPM platform
2026-02-26Closed $75M Series C led by Springcoast Partners
2025-11-18Launched User Risk human risk management module
2025-09-03Unveiled AI GRID engine, pivot to unified AI-powered CRPM platform
2025-02-26Launched AI-Powered Security Profiles and Instant Risk Assessments
2021-06Raised Series B1, roughly $19M, led by Square Peg Capital
2020-12-15Sold non-core UpGuard Core product line to Cloudhouse
2016-08-11Raised Series B, roughly $17-19M
2012Founded by Alan Sharp-Paul and Mike Baukes in Australia

Revision history

21 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

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