TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eighth paragraph, fourth sentence of release dated February 23, 2016, should read: Temasek, a Singapore-based investment company, owns and manages a net portfolio of almost $US200 billion primarily in Singapore and Asia. (instead of: over $US200 billion).
The corrected release reads:
TEAM8 BUILDS WORLD’S STRONGEST CYBERSECURITY SYNDICATE; RAISES AN ADDITIONAL $US23 MILLION STRATEGIC INVESTMENT ROUND
New strategic investors AT&T, Accenture, Nokia, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) and Temasek join Team8’s existing investors, including Cisco, Bessemer Venture Partners, Marker LLC and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, to build category-leading cybersecurity companies that challenge the biggest problems in cybersecurity.
Team8, Israel’s leading cybersecurity company-creation platform, today announced a $US23 million strategic round of funding. With the completion of the strategic round, Team8 further strengthens its relationship with market leaders and design partners who work closely with Team8 in its company-creation process. The funding adds AT&T, Accenture, Nokia, Mitsui, and Temasek to Team8’s existing investors Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Bessemer Venture Partners, Marker LLC and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors to create the world’s strongest cybersecurity syndicate. Quantum Strategic Partners also participated in the round.
"Cyberattacks are evolving and are no longer only a CIO, CSO or IT department issue,” said John Donovan, Chief Strategy Officer and Group President, AT&T Technology and Operations. “Breaches, leaked documents and cyberattacks impact customers, stock prices, brand reputation and competitive edge. This strategic investment is key to not merely iterating, but innovating against today’s highly adaptive attacker.”
“Cybersecurity is a global issue, and collaboration is critical to maintaining an advantage over today’s highly innovative and motivated attackers,” said Nadav Zafrir, Team8 co-founder and former Commander of Israel’s Technology & Intelligence Unit 8200. “With the addition of our new strategic investors, we have not only created the world's strongest cyber syndicate, but also the most diverse. We have teamed up with companies from the United States, Europe and Asia who are at the forefront of technology, telecommunications, IT, infrastructure and professional services. Team8 and its investors are all committed to working together to fulfill our vision of building category-leading companies that challenge the biggest problems in cybersecurity."
Co-founded by Nadav Zafrir, Israel Grimberg and Liran Grinberg, all veterans of Unit 8200 (the equivalent of America’s National Security Agency), Team8 does not invest in cybersecurity companies, they create them. At Team8’s core is a research group with intimate knowledge of both offensive and defensive aspects of cybersecurity. By leveraging its research group, access to the best cyber talent, and a global network that gives Team8 companies access to customers, partners and key influencers, Team8 has reinvented the entire company-creation process. The result: a cyber innovation platform uniquely engineered to create category-leading cybersecurity companies that tackle the biggest problems in cybersecurity and help organizations reclaim the advantage over attackers.
Team8’s strategic investors work closely with its research group throughout the company-creation process.
Accenture, one of the world’s leading professional services companies, will work with Team8 on a collaborative R&D agenda to innovate tailored solutions and strengthen the cybersecurity capabilities it delivers to enterprise clients. “We see significant opportunities to ideate with Team8 to deliver advanced cybersecurity capabilities that go well beyond establishing perimeter security and reactive cyber defense postures,” said Paul Daugherty, Chief Technology Officer of Accenture. “Through our unique model of collaborative R&D, we will bring together capabilities across our global network of Accenture Technology Labs and our technology ecosystem to develop breakthrough solutions to help clients adapt in a sophisticated threat landscape.”
Team8 and Nokia Bell Labs will collaborate on research initiatives to support large-scale telecommunications infrastructures.
New investors Mitsui and Temasek extend Team8’s reach into Asia. Mitsui is one of the most diversified and comprehensive Japanese trading, investment and service enterprises in the world. Japan is the second largest security market outside of the United States. Temasek, a Singapore-based investment company, owns and manages a net portfolio of almost $US200 billion primarily in Singapore and Asia. Its portfolio covers a broad spectrum of sectors including financial services, telecommunications, media and technology, transportation and industrial, life sciences, consumer, real estate, as well as energy and resources.
Since its launch in February 2015, Team8 launched illusive networks and is on pace to launch two more companies in 2016. illusive networks, a market leader in deception technology, recently announced a $22 million B Round of funding, led by NEA and including participation from Citi Ventures. illusive networks counts Fortune 100 companies in the financial, insurance, retail, technology and healthcare sectors among its customers. Over the past year, Team8 has also helped recruit over 120 new hires to its portfolio companies. Team8 plans to recruit an additional 150 people in 2016 and today is announcing that Ronit Benbasat Rom, former VP Human Resources at Check Point (worldwide), is joining its management team as VP Human Resources to support its recruiting efforts.
For more information about Team8, visit www.team8.vc.
About Team8
Team8 is Israel’s most prestigious cybersecurity company-creation platform, focused on developing disruptive technologies and building category-leading companies that challenge the biggest problems in cybersecurity today. The Team8 innovation process combines a research team with intimate knowledge of both offensive and defensive aspects of cybersecurity, access to the best cyber talent, and a global network that gives Team8 companies access to customers, partners and key influencers. Team8 was founded by leading cybersecurity experts Nadav Zafrir, Israel Grimberg and Liran Grinberg, all with deep ties to Israel’s famous IDF Technology & Intelligence Unit 8200. It is backed by Cisco, AT&T, Accenture, Nokia, Temasek, Mitsui, Bessemer Venture Partners, Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors and Marker LLC.
For more information on Team8, please visit www.team8.vc.
