Cyber decacorn Wiz acquiring Gem Security for $350 million

Cybersecurity decacorn Wiz is acquiring fellow Israeli startup Gem Security in a $350 million deal. Gem, which has developed a Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) platform, has raised $34 million to date. It raised $23 million in Series A funding last September in a round led by GGV Capital and joined by IBM Ventures and existing investor Team8.

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Earlier this week it was reported that Wiz is in negotiations to raise hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation of over $10 billion.

This is Wiz's largest acquisition to date, with the company acquiring Israeli startup Raftt, which developed a cloud-based platform for creating and sharing development environments, in its first purchase last December.

Gem Security co-founders.

Gem Security has developed a purpose-built CDR platform that shortens the time to detect, investigate and contain cloud-native threats. The platform centralizes real-time visibility into multi-cloud environments, as well as provides cloud-native forensics and automated incident timelining to understand the root causes of a cloud breach.

Gem Security was founded in 2022 by CEO Arie Zilberstein, CTO Ron Konigsberg and VP Product Ofir Brukner. Arie and Ofir worked together in Sygnia, which was acquired by Temasek, while Ron held a Chief Architect position at Singular.

Gem employs dozens of people, distributed between Tel Aviv and New York City offices.

“These are indeed exciting times for Wiz. While we cannot discuss specific processes until they are officially finalized, the company is uniquely positioned to explore mergers and acquisitions that enhance our technological offerings for customers. With $900 million in cash, $350 million in ARR, and over 40% of Fortune 100 companies as clients, Wiz stands out as a prominent player in the global cyber industry,” Wiz said in response.

“The cybersecurity landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the ongoing migration to cloud environments. In this evolving landscape, there is a growing understanding that effective collaboration between development and security teams is the key to success. Cloud environments demand a consolidated, cloud-native approach where development and security work together efficiently to proactively address vulnerabilities and threats. With the average CISO now managing an average of 75 security tools, the need for this integration is more urgent than ever.

“Wiz, as the only cloud-born company purposefully built with a platform mindset to protect cloud environments, is closely monitoring market dynamics. We recognize the importance of this shift and regularly evaluate opportunities that not only accelerate our growth but also align with our ambitious hiring plans.”