Information security company Checkmarx is preparing for an IPO on Nasdaq, sources inform "Globes." The company's preparations include the appointment of Shmuel Arvatz as CFO. Checkmarx is also recruiting 100 new employees in the very near future, mostly for the company R&D center in the Amot Platinum high-tech tower in Petah Tikva.
Arvatz resigned as CFO of Allot Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:ALLT; TASE: ALLT) in early December. He was previously CFO of ClickSoftware, another listed company before it was acquired in 2015 for $440 million. Checkmarx CEO Emmanuel Benzaquen appointed Arvatz to promote the planned IPO.
The company reported accelerated expansion over the past year, with substantial contracts being signed with major companies. Checkmarx was listed among Israel's 50 fastest growing companies by global accounting firm Deloitte for the second straight year, and for the second straight year was described as the cyber company with the highest revenue growth rate in Israel. Checkmarx currently has 300 employees, compared with 180 a year ago.
18 months ago, Checkmarx announced that it had raised $84 million from Insight Venture Partners. The company has raised $92 million in three rounds since it was founded.
Israeli cyber expert Maty Siman founded Checkmarx in 2006. The company provides advanced information security solutions for preventing hacker attacks. Its flagship product is a system that analyzes software code and detects and issues warnings about information security breaches in the initial development stage. The cost of repairing security breaches at this stage is incomparably lower than at later stages, when the product is already on the market. Checkmarx has over 700 customers worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies Samsung, Coca Cola, Salesforce.com, and SAP, the US army, and so forth.
The products and solutions offered by Checkmarx are designed to identify and repair security weaknesses in the original code, and to shore up security breaches in web and mobile apps. The company provides a simple and effective way for enterprises to integrate information security solutions in the early development stages. Checkmarx's customers include five of the world's 10 largest software houses.
In a "Globes" interview a year ago, Benzaquen said, "The giants in our sector, HP and IBM, bought the first generation of companies in the industry. IBM acquired a company named Ouncelabs three or four years ago, and HP acquired Fortify. Another Israeli company in the market, Sanctum, was acquired by Watchfire, which was then acquired itself by IBM."
He also mentioned the difficulties the company had in the past, saying, "There were times when I didn't know whether we'd make ends meet. There were several very tough years at the beginning, both because we were an incubator company and because we started in 2006, and quickly ran smack into 2008. That was a very difficult time for raising money. That was true both in Israel and overseas, but in Israel, it was almost impossible. Here in Israel, if you weren't in Israel Intelligence Corps Unit 8200 and aren't a serial entrepreneur, you haven't a chance. I had a very hard time with the funds, because we didn't serve together in an elite IDF unit. I came from Silicon Valley."
Benzaquen also commented on the company's financial results, saying, "I don't lose money. I couldn't have kept a company going for eight or nine years on five million dollar if I were losing money. I always tried to stay around break even, and that's what saved us. Theoretically, I have money to burn now, and I'm really going to invest more. We won't break even. There will be several mergers along the way. We're looking at a few things, mainly technology, but we may also acquire revenue."
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on January 4, 2017
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