The owner of the RSA Conference wants to buy a slice of every cybersecurity startup that makes it to the final of its annual Innovation Sandbox event.

The conference, which is owned by Crosspoint Capital Partners, on Thursday announced it will make a $5 million investment a prerequisite for each of the 10 finalists at next year’s sandbox.

“As part of being a Top 10 Finalist, applicants are required to accept the $5M RSAC ISB SAFE,” an RSA Conference spokeswoman told SecurityWeek. 

The company said the 10 early stage startups chosen to appear at the adjoining RSA Conference event will each receive a $5 million uncapped Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) investment.

The funding will be provided by affiliates of Crosspoint Capital Partners. 

An uncapped SAFE investment refers to a type of investment in a startup company where the investor’s SAFE note does not have a maximum valuation cap, meaning there is no predetermined limit on how high the company’s valuation can be when the SAFE converts into equity at the next funding round.

The Innovation Sandbox, a popular side event that happens alongside the larger RSA Conference, is pitched as “the world’s premier showcase for the cybersecurity startup community.”

RSA boasts that some of the most successful cybersecurity innovators have competed in the Innovation Sandbox to showcase “game-changing ideas that have disrupted the cybersecurity industry.”

Every year, hundreds of security startups craft pitches to snag a coveted finalist spot but now that it comes with a mandatory investment, the jury is out on how vendors — and their existing investors — view the PR value of the Sandbox contest with possible dilution and questions around investor/vendor fit.

The Innovation Sandbox, whether you take it seriously or not, provides a massive soapbox for investors and entrepreneurs to pitch security wares, boost sales pipelines and validate new approaches to market categories.

Now in its 20th year, the top 10 Sandbox finalists have collectively seen over 75 acquisitions and raised more than $16.4 billion in investments since its inception. Previous winners include recognizable names like Imperva, Phantom, SECURITI.ai, Apiiro and Talon Cyber Security.

In previous years, the Sandbox finalists and pitches provided signs of investors rushing to fund startups in emerging categories like Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), API security, software supply chain security and intelligent identity and access management.

In addition to the investment capital, RSA also announced plans to create a new forum called the RSAC Founders Circle  to provide past and present contest finalists with additional exposure, coaching, mentorship and connections with the CISO community.

Related: Innovation Sandbox: Investors Pivot to Safeguarding AI Training Models

Related: SECURITI.ai Wins RSA Conference 2020 Innovation Sandbox

Related: Building the Right Vendor Ecosystem – a Guide to the RSA Conference