Cybereason founders Yossi Naar Lior Div and Yonatan Striem-Amit (company pic)
Cybereason, an Israeli cybersecurity startup that was recently valued at $3.5 billion that has long been looking to hold an IPO, has apparently lost 90% of its valued. A recent $100 million investment in the company gave it just a $300-400 million valuation, reported Axios based on the SEC forms filed recently.
The news comes one month after Cybereason was basically sold to the Japanese firm SoftBank Corp which led a new $100 million investment in the company. That investment made SoftBank the firm’s largest shareholder, holding effective control.
The low valuation was not disclosed at the time of this investment and explains why SoftBank was able to scoop up Cybereason at such a cheap price.
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And it sets Cybereason apart from a number of Israel Startup Nation cybersecurity firms that have been raking in the big bucks in new investments recently.
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.
Last 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.
Eric Gan is now taking over as Cybereason’s CEO, replacing co-founder Lior Div, who will transition to the role of advisor.
“It is no secret that the public and private markets are in a continuous downward trend. The company examined many alternatives, and in the end our commitment is to our employees and investors to ensure the full functioning of the company and its future,” said Eric Gan. “The combination of several factors, including the completed funding round, together with the appointment of new management and the focus on the innovation of our product, places the company at the beginning of a long-term process to maximize the potential. At this stage, the shareholders also agreed that the valuation is not really relevant, in light of the focus on promoting Cyberereason. The company completed a real funding round, in accordance with its goals, and raised no more than it believes it needs, thus limiting the dilution of its value.”
