Bridgecrew

What Bridgecrew does

Bridgecrew was a San Francisco-based cloud security company founded in 2018 that built a codified cloud security platform purpose-built for Infrastructure as Code (IaC). Its core technology automated the detection of misconfigurations, exposed secrets, compliance violations, and open-source package vulnerabilities across IaC templates written in Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Dockerfile, Serverless, and ARM. The technical foundation was a policy-as-code engine, originally released as the open-source project Checkov, that embedded security feedback directly into developer workflows via native integrations with IDEs, VCS platforms, and CI/CD tooling — delivering automated pull request comments, commit-level auto-fixes, and "Smart Fixes" for identified misconfigurations.

The company's flagship product was Checkov, an open-source policy-as-code scanner that achieved millions of downloads and became the leading tool of its kind. Checkov provided hundreds of out-of-the-box policies covering misconfigurations, exposed secrets, and compliance checks, and was backed by an active community contributing custom policies. Bridgecrew's commercial offering extended Checkov with team-oriented features, enterprise policy management, and cloud resource scanning beyond IaC templates. The company targeted enterprise organizations with cloud infrastructure concerns, particularly around the rising cost of cloud misconfigurations and AI-related security incidents.

Bridgecrew raised approximately $18.1 million across two venture rounds — a $4.1M Series A (March 2019, NFX lead) and a $14M Series B (April 2020, Battery Ventures lead) — before being acquired by Palo Alto Networks in March 2021. Post-acquisition, Bridgecrew's technology was integrated into Palo Alto Networks' Prisma Cloud platform as the foundation of its Cloud Code Security module, where it is distributed today through PANW's enterprise sales channels. Pricing as an independent company was not publicly disclosed.

Name

Bridgecrew

Legal name

Bridgecrew

Website

https://bridgecrew.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bridgecrew built a codified cloud security platform for Infrastructure as Code scanning, offering automated misconfiguration, secrets, and compliance detection through its open-source policy-as-code engine Checkov. Acquired by Palo Alto Networks in March 2021 and integrated into the Prisma Cloud platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud Security Software

NAICS

Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Code & Repository Security (Git Security, Code Integrity) (HDADACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Software Supply Chain & Dependency Security (SBOM, Signing) (HDADACAD), Application Security Engineering (DevSecOps, AppSec Remediation) (BPAEAFAI)

Keywords

• Cloud security platform
• Infrastructure as code
• Policy as code
• DevSecOps automation
• Cloud configuration scanning

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Core offering

Bridgecrew develops policy-as-code security software that scans Infrastructure as Code (IaC) templates and container images to detect misconfigurations, exposed secrets, and compliance violations before deployment. Its flagship offering is Checkov, an open-source policy-as-code engine now integrated into Palo Alto Networks' Prisma Cloud Code Security platform, with embedded feedback delivered through developer IDEs, VCS, and CI/CD pipelines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Checkov: Open-source policy-as-code tool for Infrastructure as Code security scanning, originally created by Bridgecrew and now integrated into Prisma Cloud. Checkov has been downloaded millions of times and supports Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, and other IaC frameworks.

Products and services

• Checkov Checkov is an open-source policy-as-code scanning tool that detects misconfigurations, exposed secrets, and compliance violations in Infrastructure as Code templates. It is targeted at DevSecOps and platform engineering teams using Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Dockerfile, Serverless, and ARM templates, and now powers Prisma Cloud Infrastructure as Code Security.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sonatype: Sonatype focuses on software supply chain security, including open-source dependency scanning (SCA) and policy enforcement. Directly comparable to the SCA portion of Bridgecrew/Prisma Cloud Code Security.
• GitGuardian: GitGuardian specializes in secrets detection and remediation across code repositories and developer environments. Comparable as a developer-focused security tool that overlaps with Prisma Cloud's secrets scanning capabilities built on Bridgecrew's IP.
• Snyk: Snyk is a developer security platform offering IaC scanning, SCA, and code security. Direct overlap with Checkov in policy-as-code IaC scanning and open-source dependency vulnerability detection, serving the same DevSecOps buyer.
• Checkmarx: Checkmarx provides application security testing including static analysis, SCA, and IaC security. Comparable as a code-to-cloud AppSec platform targeting enterprise security and developer teams with similar shift-left positioning.
• Veracode: Veracode offers application security including SAST, SCA, and increasingly IaC/misconfiguration scanning. Comparable as an enterprise AppSec vendor competing for the same developer-security budget.
• Snyk (Bridgecrew integration is now under Snyk-like IaC tooling context): Already listed; remove duplicate consideration. Snyk IaC and Checkov were direct open-source competitors in policy-as-code scanning.

Emerging players

• Lacework: Lacework offers cloud security and compliance with anomaly detection across cloud workloads. Comparable as a CNAPP peer competing for cloud security budget alongside Prisma Cloud (Bridgecrew's parent platform).
• Wiz: Wiz is a cloud security posture management (CSPM) and CNAPP leader that has expanded into code-to-cloud coverage, competing with Prisma Cloud (and therefore Bridgecrew's IP) for enterprise cloud security spend.
• Aqua Security: Aqua Security provides cloud-native application protection including container security, IaC scanning, and supply chain security. Comparable as a CNAPP-adjacent vendor with overlapping IaC and policy-as-code capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• Tenable: Tenable is a broad vulnerability management and cloud security incumbent with growing IaC and cloud workload protection capabilities. Comparable as a larger incumbent competing across multiple of Bridgecrew's adjacent categories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bridgecrew

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bridgecrew