Intel weighs up future of $650m Israeli acquisition Granulate

There has perhaps never been a better time for Tal Siaj and Asaf Ezra, the entrepreneurs behind the Israeli cloud optimization solutions company granular. In 2022, they sold the company to Intel for $650 million, after raising just $45 million. In the same month, the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in years, and several months later the technology bubble burst and the value of privately owned technology companies declined.

Intel’s circumstances also underwent a radical change. In the past few years, the chip giant has been a growing business thanks to the Covid pandemic that boosted laptop sales. Intel today is a company stuck in a cash crunch. In order to increase capital, it must realize all assets that are not part of its core business. It has considered selling Mobileye and Altera, and has been looking for several months to realize the assets of Israeli company Granulate, which currently employs 100 people.

In addition to founders Ezra and Sayaj, among the funds that benefited significantly from the sale were Insight Partners, Hitz, TLV Capital, and Red Dot.

Industry sources believe that, as is the case for every Intel subsidiary, all options are on the table: from closing Granulate, to cutting staff, to selling it as is to a software company.

Two years ago, Intel was thinking about entering the enterprise cloud products market, but due to the cash flow crisis and the new focus on developing chip production, it abandoned the idea. Unlike Mobileye, Granulate is integrated into Intel.

There has been no response from Intel.

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on October 27, 2024.

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