Israeli blockchain company Sirin Labs is expanding its activity to cybersecurity. Sources inform "Globes" that Sirin Labs is founding a subsidiary, Sirin Cyber, for this purpose. Sirin Cyber will focus on cybersecurity for governments and enterprises. Sirin Labs is controlled by Moshe Hogeg, owner of the Beitar Jerusalem football club, and founding partner of venture capital fund Singulariteam.
Sirin Cyber is being founded by Hogeg and his partner, Kazakh tycoon Kenges Rakishev, in partnership with two former Israel Police senior commanders: David (Dudi) Cohen, who was Israel Police Commissioner in 2007-2011, and retired Maj. Gen. Roni Ritman, who commanded the Lahav 433 unit in 2014-2018. Sirin Labs says that Cohen and Ritman, who will be managing partners in the subsidiary, "will contribute from their management and professional experience in homeland security and cybersecurity in their previous positions."
Cohen, 65, finished his term as police commissioner in May 2011. In 2012-2015, he was chairman of energy company Cohen Development Gas & Oil, controlled by Delek Group controlling shareholder Yitzhak Tshuva. Cohen's brother, Maj. Gen. Motti Cohen, has been acting police commissioner since December 2018, following the end of ex-Police Commissioner Roni Alshech's term.
Ritman, 56, who served in leading positions in Israel Police for 31 years, resigned from the police in May 2018, four months after being reprimanded by Alshech. Ritman was suspected of sexually harassing a woman police officer; his appointment to a new police position was vetoed by Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan. Maj. Gen. Yigal Ben-Shalom replaced Ritman as head of the Lahav 433 unit, responsible for combating serious national and international crime, public corruption, and organized crime in Israel.
The new company will found a platform for cybersecurity projects, ventures, and investments. It will also provide services and solutions for customers from the public and private sectors in Israel and abroad. The subsidiary is being founded instead of the planned merger of Sirin Labs with an Israeli cybersecurity company, as reported in "Globes" last December.
Commenting on the founding of the subsidiary, Sirin Labs managing partner Rakishev stated, "We set a goal for ourselves to use the capabilities and know-how that we have developed and acquired over the years in the information security sector, together with the extensive experience of our senior partners from the law enforcement system in Israel, to take Sirin a step further and develop new technologies, with the aim of becoming a leading player in cybersecurity."
Sirin Labs, which launched the Finney blockchain smartphone in late 2018, will continue to provide mobile services, and is shortly expected to launch a new telephone device for enterprises. Among other things, Finney provides a wallet for digital currencies. Last year, following a major global slowdown in digital currencies trading and investments, Sirin Labs scaled back its activity and laid off 35 employees. It now has 25 employees at its offices in Ramat Gan.
Blockchain company Sirin Labs, founded by Hogeg and Rakishev in 2013, reported raising $255 million in its first five years in two financing rounds and an initial coin offering (ICO) in late 2017. The value of SRN, the digital currency issued by Sirin Labs, has sunk to almost zero since the ICO, after losing 99% of its peak value in January 2018, according to figures from the CoinMarketCap website.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 10, 2020
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