We all know these are tough times for Israel. While the economy is suffering the effects of war, skeptics were also suggesting earlier this year that the tech bubble had burst for the Israeli cybersecurity industry. They pointed to a slowdown in tech investments, which some claimed was a natural “market correction” to make up for overly high valuations early in 2023.
In other words, what goes up must come down. But I don’t see it that way.
Sure, some promising startups are struggling. But from where I sit, I can see that many are enjoying greater success now, midway through 2024, than anyone could have predicted.
That’s especially true for cloud security. Many organizations are waking up to realize that the cloud has vastly expanded their attack surface. And cloud provider security in a multicloud world, or a world that includes on-premises, fosters patchwork solutions that may leave them unprotected. That’s created a whole world of opportunities… and it’s just part of a new wave of optimism for the Israeli cyber market.
Let’s look at some of the biggest cyber stories this year out of Israel and what they mean for the industry as a whole.
Israel: The Cybersecurity Nation
Israel has long been known as the startup nation, and that’s even more true for cybersecurity. Israel has well over 400 cybersecurity startups and larger enterprises, claiming a major share of the global cyber market.
Israel’s cyber excellence has developed naturally from the country’s own complex and urgent defense needs—incubated within elite military intelligence units like the legendary Unit 8200 and fostered through partnerships within academia and the private sector, developing commercial applications for a vast array of industries.
Perhaps the most iconic example is Check Point, which introduced one of the industry’s earliest firewalls in 1993. Founder Gil Schwed, who recently stepped down after 30 years at the helm, is an alumnus of the IDF’s Unit 8200, following which he began working as a software developer. Today, Check Point—the global company he founded, which is still headquartered in Tel Aviv—has 5,805 employees and is valued at over $17B.
Today’s explosion in AI—which is driving new capabilities for cybersecurity—along with other trends like blockchain applications for enhanced security as well as increased global collaboration have all created new opportunities for Israeli cybersecurity.
$2.5B+ in Acquisitions of Israeli Cyber Ventures
What’s underscoring my optimism about the Israeli cybersecurity sector? Mostly, it’s deals like these, all from 2023-2024.
| Field | Deal Value | Details |
| Browser security | $625M | Palo Alto Networks purchase of Talon Cyber Security |
| API security | $500M | Expected purchase of cyber unicorn Noname Security by Akamai |
| Data security | $300M | Unicorn Cyera raises $300 million in funding just three years after its founding, bringing its value to an estimated $1.4B |
| Data security (DSPM) | $400M | Palo Alto acquisition of Dig Security |
| AI-based security | $310M | Zscaler acquisition of Avalor |
| Application security (CNAPP) | $265M | Tenable purchase of Ermetic |
| Identity and access management (IAM) | $130M | Okta purchase of Spera in a deal estimated at between $100-130M |
| Data security (DSPM) | Undisclosed | Tenable negotiations to acquire Eureka in a deal “estimated at several tens of millions of dollars” (Note that legendary Israeli unicorn Wiz was an early backer of Eureka.) |
What’s even more impressive is that Israeli companies are also often on the buying end—acquiring other companies to complement their core competencies. Examples of this include:
- CyberArk’s purchase of U.S. cybersecurity firm Venafi, which specializes in machine identity and certificate management, in a deal worth $1.54 billion
- The Wiz purchase of cloud detection and response (CDR) vendor Gem Security for approximately $300-400M, according to Forrester estimates.
Unfettered Optimism for Israel’s Cyber Future
I’m not the only one banking on Israel’s fiscal future. In January 2024, U.S. billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman bought a stake in Tel Aviv’s stock market, in what financial journalists hailed as a “strong vote of confidence” in the Israel’s economy.
Stories about the “cyber bubble bursting” often dwelt on the idea that too many startups had been overvalued in the rush of optimism following COVID-19, like this article from back in 2022 that revealed three of Israel’s “most overvalued cybersecurity startups.”
It’s certainly true that there are some ventures that weren’t able to complete funding rounds in early 2023 due to the global market slowdown. This led many others to predict doom and gloom for the Israeli market. But those predictions don’t seem to have borne out.
To see just how wrong they were, let’s look at where these three “overvalued” startups are today. Despite dire predictions, all three are weathering the storm.
- Snyk has continued to grow and thrive, in January 2024 acquiring Helios to fortify its AppSec posture management (ASPM) platform.
- In March 2024, TechCrunch reported that Axonius was “on track for more than $100 million in ARR with about 500 large enterprises among its customers.”
- And in May 2024, Wiz reported over $350 in ARR for 2023.
Wiz, The Decacorn
In fact, Wiz has proven to be one of this year’s greatest successes, with Forbes calling it “the industry’s most precocious startup.”
Wiz has been acclaimed “as the fastest growing software company ever,” hitting $100 million in annual recurring revenue after 18 months and achieving $350 million in annual recurring revenue in 2023.
Its co-founders exemplify the Israeli path to cyber success. Both grads of the IDF’s elite intelligence Unit 8200, they made a splash on the cyber scene in 2015 when their SaaS security platform Adallom was sold to Microsoft for $320 million.
Now, with Wiz, they’ve recently raised $1 billion in a deal valuing the company at $12 billion, bringing its total funding to $1.9 billion at a time when VC funding is on the decline and in a market dominated by layoffs, failed deals, and disappointment.
And here I’ll step in and take a little credit—because Wiz has chosen to partner with IOD to build an impressive library of tech content.
Content production is often one of the biggest challenges in unicorn-scale growth. Without a full production team, Wiz needed deep, strategic content that would turbocharge the company’s next growth stages.
Besides providing the tech know-how, Israel is also a global marketing leader, with a number of major cyber conferences taking place in Israel along with major Israeli presence at global conferences such as RSAC 2024 in San Francisco.
With our deep connection to the cyber industry—including longstanding relationships with the largest global tech brands like Check Point, Microsoft, and Zoho—IOD was able to quickly deliver a well-oiled content production machine for Wiz, resulting in:
- 18X the organic traffic
- 100+ articles in 5 months
- #1 Google ranking for relevant searches
More importantly, we delivered all this using deep tech content that quickly began paying for itself in solid leads and revenue growth—not to mention ongoing value through reusability of content.
We’re looking forward to remaining part of Wiz’s success story long into the future—which looks brighter than ever not only for Wiz but for Israeli cybersecurity as a whole.
Looking at the way Wiz is adapting and thriving, now at decacorn scale, proves to me once again that Israel can weather the storm—holding on to its leadership role worldwide.
Bringing Cyber Innovation Home
Another reason Israel’s global success is bound to continue is the powerful innovation ecosystem we’ve built right here at home. That includes events like CyberWeek TLV and AWS Summit TLV, where investors, practitioners, and lovers of all things tech, cloud, and cyber can get ahead of trends and maybe spot the next unicorn.
Both events feature Israeli and international vendors showcasing their latest and greatest along with a full slate of speakers addressing industry trends and predictions.
- June 24-27, 2024: At CyberWeek TLV, you’ll find big names like Check Point, Microsoft, Cloudflare, IAI (formerly Israel Aerospace Industries), Trend Micro, Deutsche Telekom, and many others.
- June 26, 2024: At AWS Summit TLV, you’ll find industry movers like Palo Alto Networks, MongoDB, Deloitte, Coralogix, Outshift by Cisco, Splunk, ManageEngine, Tenable, and many more.
Since IOD’s founding, we’ve been part of Israel’s cybersecurity ecosystem, serving leading tech brands in the space. So naturally, we’ll be attending both events to support our clients and keep up with the latest industry trends. We look forward to expanding these partnerships in the years to come.
With a vast network of tech experts and bloggers, including security specialists with deep, hands-on experience, we know your audience and know what it takes to establish yourself as a thought leader in the space.
Need security-related blogging at scale? Come meet us at CyberWeek and AWS Summit or book your free consult to learn how to build a tech content engine that pays for itself.
