Dazz CEO: Wiz has potential for $100b valuation

The CEOs of the Israeli cybersecurity companies that merged in a massive deal last November go back a long way. Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport and dazzle CEO Merav Pahat built Microsoft’s cloud security system together and remained close friends after their split.

Wiz, which completed the largest funding round of any Israeli startup in 2024 and rejected a $23 billion takeover offer from Google, acquired Dazz at the end of last year.

The deal was backed by, among others, Greylock’s Asheem Chandna, who invested in both companies. Now, Bhatt and Chandna talk to Globes about how the deal developed behind the scenes and their vision for making Wiz one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies.

‘Intense negotiations’

So how do you identify a promising entrepreneur who will lead to huge deals in the future?

“Valuing people is a multi-billion-dollar question,” Chandna tells Globes. “Anyone in the venture capital world, whether on the investor side or the entrepreneur side, can attest that valuing people is one of the hardest and most important things to do.”

Chandna knows what he’s talking about. During the past 21 years at Greylock, he has visited Israel more than 40 times and invested in a number of Israeli cybersecurity companies, including Imperva and Cato Networks. But his experience in this field began even earlier, when from 1996 to 2002 he served as Vice President of Product Management at Check Point. “If you look back ten years,” he says, “you will find that Israeli companies were essentially development centers. Today we see companies leading the global market. There are actually only two sources of the largest cybersecurity companies in the world – Israel and the United States.”

Greylock became an active co-founder of Dazz, and they are also backing investors in Wiz. So the merger of two companies in the same fund’s portfolio raises interesting questions. “Dazz was a company with strong business momentum,” explains Chandna. “Even in its last quarter, it had clients signing multi-million dollar deals. The company could have continued to grow independently, but this was an opportunity to merge with a fast-growing company and do a stock swap – meaning that instead of after paying cash, it got Dazz shareholders receive shares in Wiz and become partners in the future success of the combined company.

Bhatt asserts that although Greylock invested in the two companies, the board of directors was separate and the money came from two different funds. “In this particular deal, we asked 100% of the company’s investors and shareholders to sign on,” she says. “There are ways to protect companies so they can make the right decisions for all stakeholders.” She adds that her personal friendship with Rapaport did not prevent in-depth conversations about the details of the deal. “We don’t always agree,” she explains. He added, “In this deal there were also intense negotiations and conflict situations. Each party tried to get the best terms for its company.”

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“A week and a half later, Assaf and I met with about 20% of Dazz’s customer base,” she says of the day after closing the deal. “The feedback was amazing. People see it as a match made in heaven. It was a strategic move on Wiz’s part to expand the portfolio and market share,” she says of the day after closing the deal. But you could say it also stems from customers who have always seen the complementary nature of the solutions.

The interview also touches on the biggest buzzword in the tech industry over the past year – artificial intelligence. “AI can create a lot of good and make the world a better place,” says Chandna. “But it will also allow hackers and hostile entities to be more effective. We will see an evolution as well as an increasing number of cyber attacks that the world has not yet seen. What will happen is essentially a battle between good and evil.” “Artificial Intelligence, and humans will not be able to defend themselves against bad AI.”

“Twenty years ago, there was no role at all for a CISO,” continues Check Point veteran Chandna. “Today, this role exists in every large or medium-sized company, and in some cases, it does In every large or mid-sized company he is also the person who reports directly to the CEO and this market will continue to grow.”

After discussing developments in the cybersecurity market, Chandna addresses another “hot” topic occupying the industry – the IPO market that is set to open. As a board member of Rubrik, a leading data security company that held a $5.5 billion IPO on Wall Street last year, he has a number of ideas. “2024 was a very slow year for IPOs, but there is widespread agreement that 2025 will see a significant number of IPOs in the software and technology sector.”

“There is a strong list of companies that want to go public, and I know that even during the holidays, many companies are working on their S1 documents — the initial registration documents that companies file with the SEC in The road to an IPO.”

But Bhatt made it clear that going public is not her main goal. “I advised Assaf (Rappaport) not to sell to Google, because (Waze) has the potential to reach $100 billion,” she says. “There is always a dream to be an Israeli entrepreneur who builds something big. With Waze, there is a chance” to become one of the top two companies. (Cybersecurity) in the world Any good company can hold an IPO, but the question is whether it is really possible to become one of the top two companies in the world.

“It’s not just talent”

Diversity is also important to Bhatt. “Diversity – the fact that there are women and men and different backgrounds – helps us think about the future and build a strong company. When you want to run long distances, you need talented people who come from different angles.” Bhatt talks about combining career and family life, despite the many challenges. “It’s amazing to see this around the world – computer science and technology roles still don’t attract enough women. I’m a mother of three, and this is possible when there is a real partnership with my partner. It may not be the same motherhood I feel “I’m a stay-at-home mom, but my kids are proud of me.”

Speaking about the difficult year the industry went through due to the war, Bhat says: “It is especially in difficult times that true resilience emerges. Our customers see that we continue to deliver what is needed and continue to develop. This builds confidence.” “.

Chandna, who has closely followed the development of Israel’s tech industry, recognizes something unique about Israel: “It’s not just about technology or talent. There is an amazing ability here to take an idea and turn it into a product that solves a real problem.” I saw him at Check Point, I saw him in Palo Alto, and I see him today at Waze.”

He concludes the interview on an optimistic note: “If we sit together for a joint interview ten years from now and look at all the great things that have happened, that have made the world a better and safer place, many of the things we see will come from new ventures, many of these entrepreneurs will come.” From Israel.”

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on January 16, 2025.

© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.