Akamai acquiring cyber startup Noname Security for $450 million
Akamai acquiring cyber startup Noname Security for $450 million
The Israeli API security startup was valued at $1 billion in its last fundraising round, raising $135 million in a Series C in December 2021
Akamai Technologies announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Israeli cybersecurity startup Noname Security for $450 million. Previous negotiations between the companies, reported in Calcalist last February, failed due to differences in valuation. However, the two companies ultimately reached a mutual understanding, and the deal has now been signed.
Noname Security has raised approximately $220 million to date, with the startup being valued at $1 billion when it raised a $135 million Series C in its last fundraising round in December 2021, meaning the current deal represents a significant disappointment for most of the company's investors, especially those who entered at later stages like Georgian and Lightspeed. Other investors include Insight Partners, Cyberstarts, Next47, Forgepoint, and The Syndicate Group (TSG).
Noname Security, which became the first API security company to achieve unicorn status, has developed a platform that analyzes configuration, traffic, and code to identify the broadest set of API vulnerabilities — including misconfigurations and design flaws.
Noname Security was founded in 2020 by CEO Oz Golan and CTO Shay Levi, who left the company earlier this year. The company has headquarters in Palo Alto, California, and an R&D center in Tel Aviv. Golan was formerly the Director of Engineering at NSO and served with Levi in Unit 8200 of the Israeli Defense Forces.
Noname's over 200 employees, including CEO and Co-founder, Oz Golan, are expected to join Akamai’s Security Technology Group.
Akamai has a large R&D center in Israel after repeatedly acquiring local companies. Last year it bought Israeli startup Neosec for several dozen millions of dollars. In 2021, it acquired Guardicore for $600 million. In 2011, Akamai purchased the Israeli startup Cotendo for $300 million and about four years ago it purchased local company ChameleonX for an amount estimated by market sources at about $20 million.
Akamai said that Noname will enhance its existing API Security solution and accelerate its ability to meet growing customer demand and market requirements as the use of APIs continues to expand. Akamai said it also expects to gain greater scale with Noname’s additional sales and marketing resources, and established channel and alliance relationships.
“Applications run our world, but as applications and users proliferate, so do security risks,” said Mani Sundaram, executive vice president and general manager, Security Technology Group, Akamai Technologies. “Akamai has seen a growing need for API protection with our own data showing 109% year over year growth in API attacks. With the addition of Noname, Akamai believes it will have the breadth of integrations and deployment choices needed to deliver comprehensive API protection for customers across all environments.”
As a result of the acquisition, Akamai expects to offer a complete API security suite enabling customers to better discover “shadow” APIs and detect vulnerabilities and attacks. Akamai also plans to integrate Noname for use by customers of Akamai’s Application and API platform shortly after the acquisition is closed.
The closing of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2024. For the fiscal year 2024, the acquisition is anticipated to deliver approximately $20 million of revenue, according to Akamai.
“We’re excited to join forces with Akamai. This acquisition marks a thrilling new chapter in Noname’s journey, as we strive to enhance API security for organizations worldwide. Together, we’re committed to building a more secure future for everyone,” said Oz Golan, Co-Founder and CEO of Noname.
