Fireblocks co-founders Idan Ofrat (from right), Michael Shaulov and Pavel Berengoltz (PR Pic)
Startup Nation continues to excel at what it does best: multi-billion dollar exits by way of an IPO and startups reaching valuations of more than a billion dollars. The latter are known as unicorns. While things looked good in June, they looked even better in July. The country really heated up, and we are not just talking about the weather. There were four billion-plus IPOS in July.
The unicorns are here! That’s what Israel is are saying. But with so many unicorns arising every month, Israel may be the cause of creating a new designation for a startup with a multi-billion valuation. So what mythological animal was more exotic than a unicorn? Maybe they should take an animal from the bible, like Leviathan, for the new term.
At-Bay, a five-year-old Israeli startup that insures organizations against cyber threats, hit unicorn status just last week. The company hit the mark when At-Bay raised $185 million giving them a valuation of $1.35 billion. The company recently topped $160 million in yearly recurring income, owing to an 800 percent increase in premium revenue year over year. At-Bay continues to expand at this rate while exceeding the cyber insurance market in terms of risk reduction, with a ransomware claim frequency seven times lower than the industry average.
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At-Bay underwrites insurance policies as a Managing General Underwriter (MGU) through HSB Specialty Insurance Company, which is rated A++ by A.M Best Company and is a subsidiary of Munich Re.
Fireblocks is an Israeli fintech startup that specializes in cybersecurity. The company hit unicorn status with its latest fundraise, coming in at a $2.2 billion valuation. Fireblocks raised $310 million in s Series D round led by Sequoia Capital, Stripes, Spark Capital, Coatue, DRW VC and SCB 10X, the venture arm of Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank.
Founded in 2018, Fireblocks states that its tech streamlines operations by bringing a user’s exchanges, OTCs, counterparties, hot wallets, and custodians into one platform. Wallets, deposit addresses, and API credentials are secured using patent-pending chip isolation technology and the newest breakthrough in cryptography (MPC). The company boasts that institutions are using Fireblocks to move funds securely in seconds – instead of hours.
Fireblocks says that they will use all of their money to help them continue to build their platform for crypto-native and retail-facing financial services companies while also developing the industry-standard digital asset backend for traditional financial institutions (FIs).
Israeli startup Riskified, which offers e commerce fraud prevention services, hit a $3.3 billion valuation with its IPO, held last week. Riskified sold 17.5 million shares at a price of $21 per. The stock rose to $27 by the end of the first day of trading.
Founded in 2012 by Assaf Feldman and Eido Gal, Riskified states that they empower businesses to realize the full potential of eCommerce by making it “safe, accessible, and frictionless.” Riskified has built a next-generation platform that the company states allows online merchants to create trusted relationships with their consumers. Leveraging machine learning that benefits from a global merchant network, the company declares that its platform identifies the individual behind each online interaction, helping merchants to eliminate risk and uncertainty from their business.
REE’s Daniel Barel Co-founder and CEO (company PR pic)
At the end of the month, REE Automotive, the Israeli company that develops new tech for electric vehicles, completed an IPO SPAC merger with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp. The combined company, which is now trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol REE, has a market capitalization of $3.1 billion.
REE is a fully horizontal company, with technology adaptable to the broadest possible variety of target industries and applications. REE’s fully scalable and modular architecture enables vehicle design freedom, space and volume with the shortest footprint, cheaper total cost of ownership, faster development periods, ADAS compatibility, reduced maintenance, and compliance with worldwide safety standards.
Kaltura, an Israeli startup that provides live and on-demand video SaaS solutions, has finally held its NASDAQ IPO on Wednesday, coming away with a valuation of $1.24 billion. The company raised $150 million from the IPO. Kaltura offered 15,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $10 per share under the symbol “KLTR.”
Founded in 2006 by its President Michal Tsur and CEO Ron Yekutiel, Kaltura offers a video platform, video management, video publishing, video streaming, interactive video, media management, media distribution, video portals, video players, video solutions, online video, mobile video, video conferencing, video communication, online meetings, meeting solutions, webinars, town halls, lecture capture, cloud TV, OTT TV, video cloud, video platform as a service, media services, vpaas, podcasting, and video messaging services.
Kaltura provides live and on-demand video SaaS solutions to thousands of organizations around the world, engaging hundreds of millions of viewers at home, at work, and at school. This is especially important during the Coronavirus crisis as the shutdowns have required countless people to work remotely. And with schools closed kids are learning from home.
Finally, Israeli medtech startup Alpha Tau Medical which has developed a new form of cancer therapy that uses alpha radiation entered into an SPAC merger with special purpose acquisition company Healthcare Capital Corp. The new company has an expected valuation of $1 billion.
Founded in 2016, Alpha Tau Medical focuses on research, development and commercialization of Alpha DaRT (Diffusing Alpha-Emitters Radiation Therapy) for the treatment of solid cancer tumors. Initially developed at Tel Aviv University in 2003, Alpha DaRT was shown to be effective and safe for treating different types of cancer in multiple animal studies. The company is running its first clinical trial in several sites in the EU and is currently commencing clinical trials at over 55 leading cancer centers worldwide.
