Israeli cybersecurity VC ecosystem grows its share of world’s total
With less than three months left in 2021, cybersecurity startups have raised $17.7 billion in venture capital so far, a more than a 70% increase from last year’s record of $10.2 billion.
A staggering 35.6% of this funding was poured into companies that were founded in Israel.
The latest such company is Wiz, which just raised $250 million at a valuation of $6 billion from investors including Insight Partners and Greenoaks Capital. Since its founding in early 2020, the cloud security provider has collected $621 million in VC funding, according to PitchBook data.
“Many startups are getting into the cybersecurity space, but Israel is doing it particularly well as we’ve seen with Wiz,” Steve Ward, a managing director at Insight Partners who focuses on cybersecurity investments, said. “I’ve never seen a cyber company have this kind of momentum.”
The small Middle Eastern country has given birth to a number of other cybersecurity companies over the years, including SentinelOne, one of the largest cybersecurity exits ever. The Israeli-founded cybersecurity company priced its IPO at a valuation of $8.9 billion in June.
Like many other Israeli entrepreneurs, Wiz’s CEO Assaf Rappaport served in the Israeli Defense Force’s elite intelligence-gathering and technological units, 8200 and 81.
Among other cybersecurity companies that were founded by former members of 8200 are Cybereason, which raised $275 million in July at a reported valuation of $3.1 billion, and Argus Cyber Security, which was acquired by Germany-based Continental for approximately $450 million in 2017.
Featured image by Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images
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