Appointment
Former Unity, SAP and Yahoo! CISO, Justin Somaini, joins YL Ventures as Partner
Somaini will join the Board of Directors of several of YL Ventures’ existing portfolio companies and lead the firm’s US-based Business Development team
Global cybersecurity venture capital firm YL Ventures announced on Tuesday the appointment of Justin Somaini as a full-time Partner in the firm. Somaini, the former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of global giants Unity, SAP, Yahoo! and Symantec, will take on a leadership position within the firm’s executive team.
Somaini’s relationship with YL Ventures began over a decade ago when he became one of the firm’s first advisors and has since been actively involved in YL Ventures’ Venture Advisory Board - a network of over 120 leading CISOs and security practitioners from Fortune 100 and high-growth companies, who advise the firm’s portfolio companies.
Somaini will join the Board of Directors of several of YL Ventures’ existing portfolio companies and lead the firm’s US-based Business Development team, helping portfolio companies cultivate partnerships and manage customer engagements.
“Joining YL Ventures’ exceptional team is an unparalleled opportunity within our industry,” says Somaini. “With a track record of seeding cybersecurity unicorns and investing in startups that had an indelible impact on the market, the firm’s deep-rooted expertise in cybersecurity is widely renowned. I’m excited to use my experience to help founders create longstanding, “must-have” and not “nice-to-have” solutions and enduring category leading companies.”
“Beyond his technical expertise and phenomenal reputation within the global cybersecurity industry, Justin has a holistic understanding and approach to this dynamic and complex field,” says Yoav Leitersdorf, YL Ventures’ Managing Partner. “He is passionate about understanding the core problems his colleagues face daily and is equally passionate about finding solutions that will help not only security teams but will also be outstanding business investments. This versatility and well-rounded approach, coupled with his drive to help build companies from the ground up, makes him a perfect fit for us at YL Ventures.”
YL Ventures funds and supports cybersecurity entrepreneurs from seed to scale. Based in Silicon Valley, New York and Tel Aviv, YL Ventures manages five funds with $800 million in total AUM. Previous investments include cybersecurity unicorns such as Axonius and Orca Security and its portfolio companies have been successfully acquired by global industry leaders including Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, Okta and Proofpoint.
