US company Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire an Israeli application programming interface (API) security company. Security without a name.
Akamai will pay $450 million for Noname, 55% less than the $1 billion valuation it received in its last funding round when it raised $135 million in December 2021. On this basis, the company's newest investors will record a decline in the value of their shares. Investments. The big winners in the acquisition are early-stage investors, including Cyberstarts' Gilly Ranan and Lior Simon, and Insight Partners. Lightspeed was another early investor, but also participated in the latest round. However, $450 million still gives a positive return to investors who invested a total of $220 million.
Akamai says Noname will enhance its existing API Security solution and accelerate its ability to meet growing customer demand and market demands as the use of APIs continues to expand. Akamai also expects to achieve greater scale through Noname's additional sales and marketing resources, channel relationships and established alliances.
Noname Security was founded by Oz Golan, former director of R&D at NSO, and Shai Levy, who previously worked at IronSource and Meta. The duo first came to Cyberstarts with the idea of starting a new cybersecurity company, and after meetings with data security managers at different companies, they decided to focus on the application programming interface (API).
Application programming interfaces (APIs) enable programs to communicate and provide information together. For example, tourism websites such as Booking.com use them to enable hotels to display room availability at all times. It represents a weak point for large organizations, and cyberattacks can exploit it to steal customer details from databases. Noname competes with Salt Security, another Israeli company, which has raised $270 million to date, and was valued at $1.4 billion in its last fundraising round in February 2022. “Apps run our business,” said Akamai EVP and General Manager Security Technology Group Mani Sundaram. All over the world, but as applications and users proliferate, security risks are also increasing and Akamai has seen a growing need for API protection with our own data showing 109% year-over-year growth in API attacks with the addition of Noname. “Akamai believes it will have the API protection capabilities and broad range of integrations and deployment options needed to provide comprehensive API protection to customers across all environments.”
“We are excited to join forces with Akamai. This acquisition represents an exciting new chapter in Noname's journey, as we strive to enhance API security for enterprises around the world. Together, we are committed to building a more secure future for everyone,” Gollan said. “.
Akamai had previously bought four Israeli companies, one of which is Neosec, which also deals in API security. Akamai established an Israeli data security development center based on its acquisition of Cotendo in 2011. Since then, it has also purchased Guardicore and ChameleonX. More than 200 Noname employees, including CEO Oz Golan, are expected to join Akamai Security Technology Group.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on May 7, 2024.
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