US cyber risk ratings company BitSight has announced that it is acquiring Israeli cyber risk assessment company VisibleRisk. The deal involves no cash, with VisibleRisk's shareholders receiving shares in BitSight, although the exact holding was not disclosed.
VisibleRisk was founded in 2019 as a collaboration between Israel venture group Team8 and Moody's, who have invested $30 million in the company to date. VisibleRisk is led by US entrepreneur Derek Vadala (CEO and previously Moody's head of cyber risk) and Israeli entrepreneur Yigael Berger (GM Israel who leads R&D and product activities in Israel). VisibleRisk has 40 employees, of whom 30 are in Israel.
Team8 managing partner Nadav Zafrir said that after the acquisition, VisibleRisk will become BitSight's Israel development center and will hire dozens and perhaps hundreds of employees in the coming years. Vadala and Berger are expected to join the merged company and Team8 is seeking a manager for BitSight's Israel development center.
Both BitSight and VisibleRisk operate in the same cyber risk assessment sector with BitSight the leading player in the field. Zafrir says that VisibleRisk will complement BitSight. While BitSight specializes in cyber risk assessment of an enterprise according to external data, VisibleRisk bases its cyber risk assessments on the chances of a cyberattack, according to the internal data about the enterprise.
At the same time as acquiring VisibleRisk, BitSight is raising $250 million from Moody's at a company valuation of $2.4 billion, after the merger. Team8 will remain an active shareholder in BitSight.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 13, 2021
Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021