Cynet Raises $7 Million from U.S. Hedge Fund
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Cynet, pioneers of the all-in-one agentless cybersecurity solution for detection and remediation
of advanced and unknown threats, announced today a $7 million investment from Lazarus, a
U.S.-based hedge fund.
Cynet was founded in 2015 by Eyal Gruner, Idan Amir, and Boaz Zilber, recognized leaders in
Israel’s flourishing cybersecurity industry. Since its launch last year, Cynet has already
experienced rapid growth with a global client base that includes dozens of large-scale
enterprises in finance, healthcare, government, retail, and industrial sectors among others.
“We believe Cynet could be the next cybersecurity giant to come out of Israel.” said Brian
Abrams, partner at Lazarus. “With their comprehensive solution and rapid proof-of-concept
deployments, Cynet is going head-to-head with the biggest cybersecurity companies out there
and winning.”
The new financing allows Cynet to strengthen its foundation, continuing to develop its
groundbreaking threat detection and response technology, while expanding its worldwide
presence. The company also has the option to take additional funding from Lazarus if it chooses
to do so.
Cynet 360, which was recognized by CSO Outlook as one of the top ten detection and response
solutions of 2015, enables organizations to rapidly uncover and remediate high risk threats that
have managed to bypass their perimeter security solutions. Cynet’s strength lies in the
platform it offers upon which it can provide customers of every size the solutions they need to
detect and remediate even the most deeply hidden threats.
Leading the Cynet team is Eyal Gruner, former CEO and a co-founder of BugSec and Versafe,
which was acquired by F5 Networks in 2013. Prior to this round, the founders self-funded the
company.
“I was fortunate to get an early start in my career. Now my goal is to build a big company, an
Israeli company, which will be around for many years to come,” said Gruner.
Cynet’s decision to raise funding from a U.S. hedge fund, rather than a traditional venture
capital firm, underscores its goal of targeting an initial public offering (IPO) rather than an
acquisition by a larger firm.
“The strength of this company’s team, technology, and traction make it the rarest of start-ups,”
said Abrams. “They’ve done it all before and this time they’re looking to eclipse their previous
success by an order of magnitude.”
Coming off of the detection of several substantial cyber threats – the SNAP vulnerability
affecting millions of LG G3 devices worldwide, and the FireStorm vulnerability affecting the
firewalls of a number of major vendors – Cynet has proven itself not only via its satisfied
customers, but as an elite force in the world of cyber security intelligence.
Lazarus Management Company is a U.S.-based fund management firm whose strategies include
Israel-focused funds that invest in both publicly listed shares as well as privately held growth
companies. In addition to several companies listed on NASDAQ, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange,
the London Stock Exchange, and the Singapore Exchange, Lazarus has invested in numerous
private companies including Appoxee (acquired by Teradata), CellMining, Clarisite, Dome9,
FireBlade, Innovid, Kaminario, Porticor (acquired by Intuit), Trendlines (IPO in Singapore), and
Zimperium among others.
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