Shlomo Kramer - Investing in Cyber Security

Shlomo Kramer is an Israeli entrepreneur and investor with a deep interest in information technology, and particularly in cybersecurity. He is the co-founder of Check Point, Imperva and Cato Networks. Check Point and Imperva are cybersecurity companies and Cato Networks is a company that provides cloud-based network security. He has also invested in a wide range of startups including, Trusteer, WatchDox, Exabeam, Palo Alto Networks, Lacoon Mobile Security, Indegy, and LightCyber. Kramer is known as ‘the godfather of Israeli cyber security’.

Location

Born and raised in Israel, Shlomo Kramer completed his military service in the Israel Defense Force – Unit 8200, an intelligence and cybersecurity team tasked with analyzing and decrypting data. After leaving the IDF, Kramer enrolled at the Tel Aviv University where he achieved a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science. He also achieved a masters’ degree in computer science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Kramer has investments around Israel and abroad, mainly in the United States. 

Significant Investments 

One of the first investments Shlomo Kramer was involved with was made in 2000 when he was part of the team that raised US$11 million in series B funding for Business Layers, a privately held American information technology, and software company. In 2006 Kramer invested in series A funding of Worklight, a United States-based mobile application platform that develops software and tools for tablets and smartphones. A total of US$5.1 million was raised during this funding round. Kramer also took the lead in several investments including a seed round investment of US$6 million in 2014 in Indegy, an American industrial cybersecurity company, and a US$20 million investment in the series A funding of Gong.io in 2017. Gong.io is a company that is developing sales intelligence software using artificial intelligence. Other major investments include: 

• Series B funding of Cynet in 2018 – US$13 million was raised
• Series A funding of At-Bay in 2018 – US$13 million was raised
• Seed round funding of At-Bay in 2017 – US$6 million was raised
• Series B funding of Excelero Storage in 2017 – US$25 million was raised
• Series B funding of Aqua Security in 2017 – US$25 million was raised
• Series C funding of Exabeam in 2017 – US$30 million was raised
• Series A funding of Aqua Security in 2017 – US$9 million was raised
• Series B funding of Cato Networks in 2016 – US$50 million was raised
• Series A funding of Insert in 2016 – US$10 million was raised
• Series A funding of SafeBreach in 2016 – US$15 million was raised

Shlomo Kramer in the News

In February 2018 Forbes reported on Kramer’s excellent track record of startup success. It speaks of the US$740 million Kramer achieved from the proceeds of two companies and of other major investments and his dominance in the markets. In Calcalist CTech in July 2018 it was announced that Imperva would be acquiring Pervoty for US$140 million. This after the company’s stock dropped by 15.16% and other losses were reported less than two years following major corporate changes resulting in Shlomo Kramer and other co-founders leaving the company.