Israeli startup Forter, which deals in fraud prevention in e-commerce, is preparing for an IPO at a valuation of $5 billion, according to reports in the US media based on "sources familiar with the matter".
Six months ago, the company, which was founded in Tel Aviv in 2013 by Liron Damri and Michael Reitblat, and is now based in New York, reported an investment round of $300 million at a valuation of $3 billion. In November last year, it raised $125 million at a valuation of $1.25 billion. The investment round in May was led by Tiger Global, a New York-based venture capital firm that has become very prominent in investments in Israeli unicorns. It has led rounds in, among other companies, Redis Labs, Yotpo, VAST Data, and Snyk.
The sources are reported to have said that Forter has already started interviewing investment banks with a view to hiring underwriters, but that the time and scope of the offering were not yet determined. Forter did not respond to the reports.
In the announcement of the May investment round, Forter said that it protected online transactions worth an aggregate of over $250 billion annually from credit card fraud, identity theft, and account takeover. The company employs about 300 people, 200 of them in Israel, and it aims to double its Israeli workforce over the coming year.
Forter's growth is directly connected to the growth in online purchases as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In its May announcement, the company said that it had doubled its revenue in comparison with the previous year. Last year, Forter reported that it had exceeded $100 million in annual sales (ARR), so the announcement implies a current annual revenue rate of $200 million.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 19, 2021.
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