# Stepan Ilyin

> Stepan Ilyin is the Co-Founder and COO of Wallarm, a San Francisco-based API and application security company that raised $55M in Series C funding in 2025. A former whitehat hacker and Bauman Moscow State Technical University graduate, he co-founded Wallarm in 2013 alongside Ivan Novikov and others, with the company graduating from Y Combinator's S16 batch. Wallarm now protects Fortune 500 enterprises with AI-powered API security, real-time threat detection, and CI/CD-integrated vulnerability management. Ilyin has authored over 500 publications on DevSecOps, API security, and AI threat prevention, and is a recognized conference speaker at Black Hat, RSA, and similar venues.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & COO at Wallarm
- **Organizations:** Wallarm, Y Combinator
- **From:** Russia
- **Nationality:** Russian
- **Education:** Master's in Computer Science, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Master's in Business / Managerial Economics, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, S16 Batch, Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Co-founded Wallarm, raising over $65M+ in total funding including a $55M Series C in 2025, Helped scale Wallarm to 210+ employees and 70+ Fortune 500 enterprise customers, Authored 500+ publications for DevOps, security, and developer communities

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Co-founded Wallarm, a web application and API security company
- **2016** — Wallarm graduated from Y Combinator S16 batch; formalized role as Co-Founder & COO
- **2018** — Wallarm closed $8M Series A led by Toba Capital
- **2019** — Spoke at AppSec California conference on API and application security
- **2022** — Featured speaker at Kong Summit DevOpsSpeakeasy
- **2023** — Represented Wallarm at Black Hat USA 2023
- **2024** — Wallarm reported record 134% net revenue retention across enterprise accounts
- **2025** — Wallarm raised $55M Series C led by Toba Capital; interviewed at Black Hat 2025 on AI and API security evolution

## Achievements

- Co-founded Wallarm, raising over $65M+ in total funding including a $55M Series C in 2025
- Helped scale Wallarm to 210+ employees and 70+ Fortune 500 enterprise customers
- Authored 500+ publications for DevOps, security, and developer communities
- Recognized in 2025 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards (API Security, API Abuse Prevention, Application Security)
- Guided Wallarm to 134% net revenue retention in 2024 with near-zero churn
- Y Combinator S16 graduate (2016)
- Listed in Wallarm's inclusion in 2024 IT Harvest Cyber150 list
- Active speaker at Black Hat USA, RSA Conference, AppSec California, Kong Summit

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Wallarm raised $55M Series C led by Toba Capital to transform API security for the AI era
- **2025-04** — Wallarm reported record 2024 results: 134% net revenue retention and near-zero churn across enterprise accounts
- **2025-01** — Wallarm released 2025 API ThreatStats Report and was recognized in Cybersecurity Excellence Awards in three categories
- **2025-02** — Wallarm named G2 Momentum Leader for Winter 2025
- **2025-08** — Stepan Ilyin featured in Black Hat 2025 interview discussing AI, APIs, and the evolution of cybersecurity threats

## Links

- Website: https://wallarm.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stepanilyin
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/stepah
- GitHub: https://github.com/stepan-i
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/wallarm/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/stepan-ilyin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-22