Cybersecurity startup Snyk Ltd. today announced that it has acquired Israeli runtime data application startup Helios for an undisclosed price.

Founded in 2021 as Heliosphere Ltd., Helios offers a developer-first observability platform that helps development and operations teams shorten the time to find and fix issues in distributed applications. The company’s application testing platform for distributed, cloud-native apps seeks to address security issues in initial app development, focusing on giving developers a full understanding of how their code interacts with distributed apps as a whole.

The company utilizes OpenTelemetry to combine distributed tracing with other data sources to allow developer teams to track how a request flows through a distributed application. Doing so gives developers the context they need to resolve any issues that appear as they modify parts of their apps.

Snyk plans to combine Helios’ full-stack runtime data collection and insights with its Snyk Developer Security Platform to provide customers with a comprehensive picture of their applications, spanning the entire software development lifecycle.

“As the pace and complexity of software development continues to rapidly increase, we’ve seen our global customers reap enormous productivity gains, but often at the cost of increased risk and critical security concerns,” said Snyk Chief Executive Peter McKay. “This acquisition was executed with those valid concerns top of mind.”

With the integration of Helios’ tech, Snyk customers will gain access to a range of new features, including end-to-end application discovery, which offers holistic visibility across the entire application environment. There’s also risk-based prioritization that allows for the use of actionable runtime insights to direct remediation efforts effectively where they are most critical for the business. And Helios offers full-stack runtime data collection that includes various multiple data collection methods ensure a complete and comprehensive overview of applications in their runtime state.

Snyk said the acquisition also will allow Snyk to bring greater benefits to its strategic partners by leveraging runtime insights for complementary value. The company notes that it looks forward to creating even more advantages and opportunities within its partner ecosystem as well.

Coming into its acquisitions, Helios had raised one round of $5 million in June 2022. Investors included Entrée Capital Management LLC, Amiti Ventures Pte. Ltd. and a number of individual investors, notable among them Snyk co-founder Guy Podjamy. The acquisition is Snyk’s first since it acquired Enso Security in June 2023.

Photo: Helios