Upwind joins the ranks of Nvidia, Adidas, Walmart, and more, recognized for shaping the future of cloud and AI security through its runtime-first cloud security platform

Upwind, the runtime-first cloud security leader, is proud to have been named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026. The recognition highlights Upwind’s role in redefining how enterprises secure modern cloud and AI-driven environments. This year’s list shines a spotlight on businesses that are shaping industry and culture through innovation.

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Upwind, the runtime-first cloud security leader, is proud to have been named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026. The recognition highlights Upwind’s role in redefining how enterprises secure modern cloud and AI-driven environments. This year’s list shines a spotlight on businesses that are shaping industry and culture through innovation.

“Cloud and AI have already redefined how modern businesses operate, and security must continue to evolve alongside them,” said Amiram Shachar, CEO and Co-founder of Upwind. “We are honored to be recognized by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies as we continue to establish a new foundation for cloud security built on runtime intelligence. We built Upwind around real-time visibility as the source of truth, enabling organizations to focus on what is actually happening and what is truly at risk. We are excited to continue building alongside our customers and partners as they adopt the next generation of cloud and AI technologies. This recognition is also a testament to the team we’ve built, who are pushing the boundaries of what modern security can deliver every day.”

Upwind’s platform is designed for how modern cloud environments actually operate. As cloud-native and AI-driven systems become more dynamic and ephemeral, traditional approaches based on static posture and periodic scans are no longer sufficient. Upwind’s runtime-first model continuously observes workloads, applications, identities, APIs, and data in motion, providing a real-time, inside-out view of risk grounded in actual behavior rather than assumptions. By correlating security findings with live runtime context, Upwind cuts through alert noise and surfaces only risks that matter most to the business. This enables security, DevOps, and engineering teams to prioritize effectively, respond faster, and operate with greater clarity in high-velocity environments.

Today, Upwind secures millions of workloads for global enterprises, including Waste Management, Siemens, Carvana, Roku, ClickUp, Wix, Nubank, Agoda, Peloton, Fiverr and BILL, helping security teams cut through noise and focus on what matters most. Customers report a 98% reduction in security alerts and 60% fewer irrelevant CVEs, enabling teams to prioritize real risk using runtime context.

The company’s inclusion on the list builds on a year of significant momentum. Upwind recently raised $250 million in Series B funding, marking the beginning of “The Next Wave,” its next phase of growth focused on scaling runtime-first cloud security globally. Over the past year, Upwind achieved 900% year-over-year revenue growth and 200% year-over-year customer growth, expanded its global footprint, with established offices and a growing team across North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.

The company has built strategic partnerships with leading cloud providers. Through its collaboration with AWS, Upwind is integrated as a select CNAPP partner within the Extended Plan for AWS Security Hub, embedding its runtime-first capabilities into AWS’s consolidated security operating model. This enables customers to procure, deploy, and operate runtime-first cloud security through a simplified, unified AWS experience. Upwind has also partnered with Microsoft to deliver a unified runtime security solution for Azure workloads, further extending its reach across enterprise cloud environments.

Together, these milestones reflect Upwind’s role at the center of a broader industry transition. As enterprises adopt AI and real-time cloud architectures, security is shifting from fragmented, reactive tools to unified platforms grounded in runtime truth.

Upwind is leading that shift.

Upwind’s momentum is further reflected in continued recognition across the industry, including being named CNADR Company of the Year by Frost & Sullivan and a Leader and Outperformer in Container Security by GigaOm. The company was also included in the Gartner 2025 Market Guide for CNAPP and three Gartner Hype Cycles, and holds a 4.9 out of 5 rating on Gartner Peer Insights. Additional recognition includes being named a Leader and Emerging Innovator in the QKS Group SPARK Matrix™ for CNAPP 2025, achieving a top-right placement in ISMG’s 2025 CNAPP Market Guide, and being recognized as a two-time Leader in Cloud Application Detection and Response (CADR) and Cloud Security in Latio’s 2025 Cloud Security Market Report, as well as an API Innovator and Runtime Innovator in the 2026 Latio Application Security Market Report. Upwind was also named to Fortune’s Cyber 60 and CRN’s Security 100, and recognized as a CRN 2025 Stellar Startup in Security.

The World’s Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company’s hallmark franchise and one of its most anticipated editorial efforts of the year. To determine honorees, Fast Company’s editors and writers review companies driving progress around the world and across industries, evaluating thousands of submissions through a competitive application process. The result is a globe-spanning guide to innovation today, from early-stage startups to some of the most valuable companies in the world.

“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies is about spotlighting organizations that don’t just adapt to change—they drive it,” said Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “The companies we honor this year are redefining what leadership looks like in 2026, pairing bold ideas with measurable impact and turning breakthrough innovation into real-world value. They are setting the pace for their industries and offering a blueprint for what sustained innovation can achieve.”

The full list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies honorees can now be found at fastcompany.com. It will also be available on newsstands beginning March 31, 2026.

About Upwind

Upwind is the next-generation cloud security platform built to lead the Runtime revolution. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Upwind brings together a unified vision for cloud and application-layer protection, empowering organizations to run faster, detect threats earlier and secure their environments with unmatched precision. The company was founded by Amiram Shachar and the founding team behind Spot.io (acquired by NetApp for $450 million) and is backed by leading investors including Bessemer, Salesforce Ventures, Greylock, Cyberstarts, Leaders Fund, Craft Ventures,TCV, Alta Park, Cerca Partners, Swish Ventures and Penny Jar Capital. Upwind has raised $430 million since its founding in 2022 and is trusted by forward-thinking enterprises globally to bring real-time runtime intelligence to modern cloud security. For more information or to schedule a demo, visit www.upwind.io.

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow business publication Inc. For more information, please visit fastcompany.com.

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Upwind is honored by Fast Company's recognition as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, as we establish a new foundation for cloud security built on runtime intelligence and push the boundaries of what modern security can deliver.