Seven Tech Trailblazers alumni blazing a trail in the news this week

It’s another busy week for the Tech Trailblazers alumni community, with investment, partnerships, product innovation and fresh industry research putting previous winners and runners-up firmly in the headlines.

The team here at Tech Trailblazers Towers has been keeping an eye on the latest developments, and here are seven stories that caught our attention this week.

DataBahn raises $40m Series B

First up, congratulations to DataBahn, a 2025 Security Trailblazers runner-up, which has secured $40 million in Series B funding, led by Insight Partners.

The new investment will help DataBahn accelerate development of its agentic data control plane as enterprises grapple with the growing volumes of telemetry needed to support AI and security operations. The funding attracted coverage from titles including SiliconANGLE, Dallas Innovates and BigDATAwire.

Read the news: DataBahn raises $40M as AI agents queue up for enterprise telemetry — SiliconANGLE
Trailblazer credentials: 2025 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up

It is fantastic to see one of our most recent Security Trailblazers alumni gaining this kind of momentum.

Congratulations to the whole DataBahn team!

Snyk takes continuous AI-powered offensive security forward

Snyk, a 2018 Developer Trailblazers and Security Trailblazers runner-up, is back in the news with the general availability of Evo Continuous Offensive Security.

The technology brings autonomous AI-powered penetration testing and AI agent red teaming into continuous application security, helping organisations identify exploitable risks rather than simply generating ever-longer lists of vulnerabilities.

Help Net Security highlighted the launch this week as Snyk continues to extend its security platform for an increasingly AI-driven software development environment.

Read the news: Snyk unveils continuous AI pentesting and agent red teaming — Help Net Security
Trailblazer credentials: 2018 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up

Here at Tech Trailblazers, we’re proud to see an alumnus recognised across both our Developer and Security categories continuing to innovate at the intersection of those two worlds.

Well done to Team Snyk.

H1 partners with Novo Nordisk on AI-driven clinical development

There is big partnership news for H1, our 2022 Big Data Trailblazers runner-up.

H1 has announced a strategic partnership with Novo Nordisk aimed at using AI-ready healthcare data and AI-powered workflows to improve clinical development, including areas such as trial design, site selection and execution.

The announcement has already attracted attention from MobiHealthNews, HLTH and BioSpace, highlighting the potential for AI and high-quality healthcare data to help transform the clinical trial process.

Read the news: Novo Nordisk, H1 partner on AI for drug discovery, clinical trials — MobiHealthNews
Trailblazer credentials: 2022 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up

This is a great example of a Big Data Trailblazer putting data and AI to work on a genuinely significant real-world challenge.

Many congratulations to H1 and the team.

Cynomi expands MSP cyber protection through SPECTRA partnership

Cynomi, a 2025 AI Trailblazers runner-up, is also making headlines following a new strategic partnership with SPECTRA.

The collaboration is designed to help managed service providers and managed security service providers combine Cynomi’s virtual CISO capabilities with SPECTRA’s certification, cyber warranty and insurance ecosystem.

The partnership provides Cynomi partners with a route towards SPECTRA Certification, alongside access to cyber warranties and potential cyber insurance savings for eligible customers. The announcement was covered this week by ChannelE2E.

Read the news: Cynomi and SPECTRA partner to help MSPs add security warranties and insurance savings — ChannelE2E
Trailblazer credentials: 2025 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up

It’s great to see one of last year’s AI Trailblazers finding new ways to turn AI-powered cybersecurity expertise into practical benefits for the channel.

Congratulations, Cynomi!

Rafay Systems tackles the operating layer of the AI infrastructure boom

A familiar name from our Containers category is continuing to evolve alongside the AI infrastructure market.

Rafay Systems, the 2022 Containers Trailblazers winner, featured in SiliconANGLE this week as the company builds on its infrastructure orchestration expertise to address the increasingly complex challenge of operating, securing and monetising AI infrastructure.

As enterprises and infrastructure providers deploy increasingly expensive GPU estates, orchestration, governance and self-service access are becoming critical parts of the equation—and this is exactly the sort of infrastructure challenge Rafay has been tackling since its Containers Trailblazers days.

Read the news: Rafay targets the AI infrastructure operating layer — SiliconANGLE
Trailblazer credentials: 2022 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up

The team here at Tech Trailblazers Towers loves seeing an award winner evolve with the market while staying true to the technical challenge that first made it stand out.

Congratulations to Rafay Systems.

BlackFog research shines a light on the ransomware iceberg

BlackFog, a 2021 Security Trailblazers runner-up, has published its latest ransomware research—and the numbers provide another stark reminder of how much malicious activity never reaches the public record.

Its Q2 2026 findings identified 93 active ransomware groups, including 28 newly formed groups, while the number of undisclosed attacks rose 40% year on year. BlackFog also reported that data exfiltration featured in 97% of disclosed ransomware incidents during the quarter.

Read the research: BlackFog’s 2026 Q2 Ransomware Report
Trailblazer credentials: 2021 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up

Proprietary research that adds meaningful intelligence to an industry is exactly the kind of contribution we enjoy seeing from our alumni.

Congratulations to the BlackFog team for continuing to raise awareness of the changing ransomware landscape.

mabl keeps the spotlight on AI-driven software testing

Finally this week, mabl, an AI Trailblazers runner-up in both 2018 and 2019, is continuing to put AI-driven software testing firmly on the agenda.

The company has been highlighted this week ahead of its Boston event exploring the impact of AI coding agents on software quality and the changing role of testing as software development becomes increasingly AI-assisted.

Read the news: mabl positions around AI-driven software testing with upcoming Boston event — TipRanks
Trailblazer credentials: 2018 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up | 2019 Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up

It is a timely conversation. As AI accelerates the volume of code organisations can create, confidence in the quality of that software becomes even more important.

For a company recognised by the Tech Trailblazers judges for AI innovation several years before generative AI became ubiquitous, it is great to see mabl continuing to help shape that discussion.

Congratulations to the mabl team.

Once a Trailblazer, always a Trailblazer

We congratulate all of our previous Tech Trailblazer Awards winners and runners-up who continue to innovate, grow and make their mark on their respective industries.

Seeing alumni secure new investment, work with global partners, launch innovative technology and contribute important industry research is exactly why we love following their journeys long after the Awards themselves.

Could your company be one of the Trailblazers we are writing about in the years ahead?

The Tech Trailblazers Awards 2026 are now open. The Awards are for enterprise technology startups and scaleups across categories including AI, Big Data, Blockchain, Cloud, Containers, Developer, Security, IoT, Fintech, Networking, Storage, Sustainable Tech and Telecoms.

2026 eligibility requires that entrants should be privately held technology companies under ten years old, privately funded or VC-backed at Series C or earlier, and operating in or relevant to one of the Tech Trailblazers Awards categories.

Find out more and enter the Tech Trailblazers Awards 2026