Israel-based Laminar gets snapped up by Microsoft-backed cybersecurity firm Rubrik

US cybersecurity company Rubrik said it is acquiring Israel-based startup Laminar, a data security platform provider that helps businesses and organizations monitor and protect sensitive data stored in public clouds.

As part of the deal, Rubrik will turn Laminar into its new cybersecurity research and development center. Rubrik currently operates R&D centers in Bangalore, India and at its headquarters based in Palo Alto, California.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal value is estimated at $100 million to $250 million, according to a report by TechCrunch.

Founded in 2020 by Amit Shaked, the CEO, and Oran Avraham, the chief technology officer, Laminar has built a data platform for security and leakage protection for everything stored and run in public cloud accounts.

Shaked and Avraham, who met in high school at the age of 14, both served in Unit 8200, the intelligence corps unit of the Israel Defense Forces, focusing on collecting signal intelligence and code decryption.

Laminar’s platform provides autonomous and continuous data discovery and monitoring across all major public cloud service providers including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google and Snowflake. It includes data visibility tools that scan data, using AI and machine learning, to detect and remediate breaches without interrupting data flow.

Founded in 2014, Rubrik develops cloud-based ransomware protection and data-backup and management software. The company says it has more than 4,500 business customers, including Nvidia, PepsiCo and Home Depot.

Rubrik chief business officer Mike Tornincasa said that Laminar’s visibility and security tools will be integrated into Rubrik’s cybersecurity software solutions to help businesses that manage and use data across multiple cloud environments better protect their most sensitive data against cyberattacks.

The era of digital transformation and cloud migration has led to an explosion in the number of known and unknown or so-called shadow data stores sharpening the need for data security across multiple cloud environments.

By 2025, over 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms, up from 30% in 2021, according to estimates by research firm Gartner. With the ongoing growth of cloud applications comes an increase in cyberthreats, including sophisticated ransomware. Cloud-based breaches account for almost half of all data breaches, according to the IBM cost of data breach 2022 report. Public cloud-based breaches cost businesses an average of $5.02 million per year.

“There is a dark side to digital transformation in the form of shadow IT, and more businesses are realizing they can’t protect against what they can’t see, leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks,” said Shaked. “We have found synergy with Rubrik, a company that cares just as deeply about ensuring that customers are prepared against the inevitable.”

“The combination of cyber posture and cyber recovery will help create a cyber-resilient future where organizations can take on any threat, at any stage of the attack,” he remarked.

With the integration of Luminar’s AI-driven technology, Rubrik says businesses will be offered a proactive solution to stop more sophisticated cyberattacks before they happen by knowing where all of their data lives, who has access to the data, and how it’s being used.

To date, Laminar has raised $67 million from investors, including cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, Salesforce Ventures, TLV Partners, Meron Capital, Tiger Global and Insight Partners.

The acquisition adds to several Israeli-founded cybersecurity startups being bought up by global tech companies in recent months as they look to meet the fast-growing security needs of businesses. In March, Cisco Systems, a US maker of networking software and hardware, said it intends to acquire Israel’s Lightspin Technologies, a developer of cloud security software.

Other deals include US tech giant IBM buying Israeli cyber startup Polar Security, a developer of an automated data security platform to track and protect sensitive data across hybrid cloud-based systems, and US-based cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks scooping up Cider Security.