Some companies put a lot of effort into developing ideas to enrich the Internet world, while others prefer to convert popular technologies for use in work environments. This is what WorkLight Inc. has been doing for the past two years, and it now has paid off. The company has raised $12 million in its second funding round, after raising $5 million when it was founded in 2006. New investor Pitango Venture Capital led the round and was joined by WorkLight's existing investors, Genesis Partners, Index Ventures, and Shlomo Kramer the co-founder of Check Point and president and CEO of application data security start-up Imperva Ltd.. Pitango general partner Rona Segev-Gal is expected to joint the WorkLight board.
WorkLight was founded by CEO Shahar Kaminitz and CTO Yuval Tarsi. The company employs 25 people at its R&D center at the Yakum Industrial Park, and a further five people at its US offices in Boston. Kaminitz says that, following the latest round, the company's R&D center will double in size by the end of the year.
WorkLight provides secure software solutions that enable employees at large companies to use Web 2.0 tools for business purposes in the work environment. The decision to form the company was driven by the need to give employees the ability to use Internet tools and services traditionally suited for home computer environments in work environments that demand different specifications and emphasis, especially with regard to information security. To this end, WorkLight has developed a software which is installed on enterprise networks, providing a secure connection for employees wishing to use these services. The company launched its product in mid-2007, and it now supports 14 different technologies and websites, including Google, Yahoo, RSS updates, and others.
WorkLight recently enhanced its software's capabilities further by making it compatible for use on Facebook. The company had sales total several hundred thousands of dollars in 2007, and is expected to increase this to a few million dollars in 2008.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 1, 2008
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