Exclusive: Inside Wiz’s acquisition of Gem Security
The word “wiz” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who is very good at something.” It’s also a term that evokes wizards, in the Harry Potter sense.
And it’s proven to be a fitting name for a company that’s among the fastest-growing startups ever—in 2022, the cloud security company hit $100 million in ARR just 18 months after its launch, and has continued growing at a rapid clip ever since.
Now, the company is at a coming-of-age moment, as Wiz goes from nascent upstart to acquiring institution. Wiz CEO and cofounder Assaf Rappaport has talked to Fortune exclusively about Wiz’s second-ever acquisition with its purchase of Gem Security, a cloud threat detection startup:
Gem, which was founded in 2022 and specializes in what’s commonly termed cloud detection and response, or CDR, landed on Rappaport’s radar last year. “I never got so many calls from so many investors saying: ‘Hey, how can we get into Gem?’" said Rappaport. “That's when I knew something was happening.”
In some sense, Wiz’s acquisition of Gem is more than a decade in the making, as Rappaport and Gem cofounder and CEO Arie Zilberstein go further back than you might expect:
The speed of the Gem acquisition can be in part attributed to the common language between Rappaport and Zilberstein. The two have a lot in common, in a way that’s easy to see as they talk to each other on a Zoom call—they both sit with evocative art in the background (on Rappaport’s side, there’s even a painting by his cofounder Costica) and they’re both very excited to let me know that they both have border collie mixes.
And then there’s how they first met—more than a decade ago, Rappaport and Zilberstein were both in the elite cyber division of the Israeli Defense Forces, Unit 8200. It’s a program that screens 100,000 recruits each year and only selects the top dozen or so.
Rappaport told Fortune that Wiz will be on the lookout for more deals this year, as the company looks to keep building its streak as a magic-maker.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
