platform for volunteering: Vee co-founders (L-R), Gil Amsalemת May Piamenta, and Avi Amor. Photo Vee
Cybereason, an Israeli cybersecurity startup and a unicorn, and Vee, an Israeli startup that is building a platform for volunteering, are both making further rounds of layoffs. Vee laid off 50% of its remaining workforce and Cybereason sacked 200 employees, or 17% of its remaining workforce.
Vee was founded in 2020 by CEO May Piamenta, when she was just 20 together with CTO Gil Amsalem, and COO Avi Amor. Vee has raised a total of $13.5 million to date.
Vee’s platform provides a diverse range of volunteer options, including food aid, animal welfare, youth mentoring, and environmental projects, making it simple for HR teams to identify, arrange, and share charity events, effectively creating an internal community of giving back.
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In July Vee fired 50 of its employees – about 30% of the total workforce.
Founded in 2012 in Israel by CEO Lior Div, CTO Yonatan Striem-Amit, and CVO Yossi Naar – all veterans of the IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit, Cybereason is an Israeli cybersecurity company, which provides protection against cyberattacks to both governments and businesses alike. Alphabet Inc’s Google Cloud unit is one of its backers.
Backed by people like former US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and his fund Liberty Strategic Capital, Cybereason was at one time valued at as much as $3.5 billion. But now reports indicate that the company is looking at just a $2.5 billion price tag.
In June, Cybereason filed its paperwork with the SEC ahead of its planned IPO. At the time, the company was said to be looking at a $5 billion valuation from a Wall Street Initial Public Offering. But the continuing crisis in worldwide markets and inflation due to the ongoing war in Ukraine has sent indices plummeting and new capital for investment has largely dried up. As a result, this is just not a good time for new firms to go public, but since cyber security is always in demand, Cybereason may find a buyer for the right price.
Also in June, the company laid off around 100 employees out of the total 1,500 people the company employed in Israel and worldwide.
“This is a difficult decision for us and we are doing the utmost in order to help the employees in this process,” Cybereason said in a statement. “As market conditions have changed significantly and the technology IPO market is effectively closed, companies like ourselves must be financially strict and prioritize financial efficiency over growth. The demand for our technology remains high and we are continuing to build an independent global company with long-term strategic goals.”
