ServiceNow acquires Neebula Systems for $100m

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The Hod Hasharon-based cloud computing tools company has raised only $5 million.

Neebula Systems which develops management tools for a cloud computing virtual environment, has been acquired by US company ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) for $100 million.

For Neebula, founded by Yuval Cohen, Ariel Gordon, and Shai Mohaban, the exit is especially successful. The company's only financing was $5 million raised in mid-2009, a few months after it was founded. The leading investors in that round, Israel capital funds Pitango Venture Capital and Genesis Partners, are also the big winners on the deal.

Virtualization co Neebula raises $5 million

The two funds joined forces in late June 2009, with Pitango leading the round. According to the Registrar of Companies, Pitango owns 44% of Neebula's shares, giving it $44 million for its investment. Before founding Neebula, CEO Yuval Cohen was an independent partner in Pitango. Pitango general partner Rami Beracha represented the fund on the company board of directors since the investment. Genesis owns 30% of the company; its share of the exit proceeds will therefore be $30 million. Genesis general partner Jonathan Saacks represented his fund on the board of directors.

Neebula's partners also benefited from the deal. Cohen and Gordon both have respectable records in the industry. Cohen was CTO and VP R&D at Radlan. After Radlan was acquired by Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL), he was appointed CEO of Marvell Israel. He previously served in various positions at BreezeCom, RND, and Algotech, which was acquired by Kodak in 2004. According to the Registrar of Companies, Cohen owns 9.54% of Neebula, the same as Mohaban, and his share of the acquisition proceeds will therefore come to $9.54 million.

Gordon, who was CTO and VP R&D at New Dimensions Software before it was acquired by BMC Software, owns 6.36% of Neebula, and will therefore receive $6.36 million following the exit. BMC Software is considered one of the competitors of ServiceNow, which is acquiring Neebula.

Neebula currently has 35 employees at its offices in Hod Hasharon, and is expected to continue operating there as ServiceNow's development center in Israel. The US company, which specializes in providing cloud-based computer automation solutions, already has a branch in Israel, launched in May 2012 and managed by Limor Afik. The company has raised $83.7 million from the Greylock and Sequoia funds, among others.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 9, 2014