Waratek

Waratek builds a compiler-based runtime protection platform for Java applications, combining Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) and Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) into a single agent that instruments the Java Virtual Machine itself rather than the network traffic around it. Because the technology works at the JVM/bytecode level, Waratek can virtually patch known vulnerabilities (including in legacy, unsupported Java runtimes) and block exploitation of flaws like deserialization attacks or injection without requiring immediate code changes or emergency patching windows.

The company won the RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox in 2015 for this approach, at a time when RASP was still an emerging category distinct from perimeter-based WAF tooling. Waratek has stayed narrowly focused on Java (and, more recently, AI-generated code) rather than expanding into a broad multi-language platform, which keeps its footprint small relative to larger application security vendors but has let it remain a specialist option for large enterprises still running substantial legacy Java estates.

Waratek is a small, independently operated company that has not raised new outside capital since its early funding from Mangrove Capital Partners, and it competes in a RASP/IAST market that has consolidated significantly as larger platform vendors folded similar capability into broader application security suites. Its continued relevance rests on the depth of its Java-specific virtual patching rather than category-wide breadth.