Israel's Cato Networks raises $30M Series B led by Greylock Partners for its cloud-based network security technology
Shlomo Kramer is well-known in the security industry as the co-founder of Check Point, arguably the world's first network security firewall vendor.
Context & Ripple Effects
In 2016 this was a bet on pedigree: Shlomo Kramer, co-founder of Check Point — arguably the first network firewall vendor — raising a $30M Series B from Greylock for cloud-delivered network security. The related coverage shows how far that bet compounded: a $77M round led by Lightspeed in 2020, then a $200M raise at a $2.5B valuation in 2021.
The arc since has been relentless escalation — $238M at $3B+ in 2023, a $359M Series G at $4.8B+ in 2025 pushing total funding past $1B — with Cato reporting $300M ARR and making its first acquisition, Aim Security, reportedly for ~$350M. This 2016 round is the entry point of what became one of Israel's largest private cybersecurity companies.
First-order effects
- Greylock converts Kramer's Check Point track record into an early position in cloud-based network security, giving Cato the capital to scale its remote-workforce protection service beyond startup stage.
Second-order effects
- Lightspeed's repeated lead roles across the 2020, 2021, and 2023 rounds show later investors outbidding the Series B syndicate, concentrating ownership and pricing power in fewer hands as valuations climbed from $2.5B to $4.8B+.
- Rivals in cloud network security face a competitor with $1B+ in funding able to buy capability outright — Cato's ~$350M Aim Security acquisition is the consolidation move that scale enables.
Third-order effects
- Cato hiring underwriters for a US IPO targeting more than $500M points to where this pattern ends: Israeli cloud-security firms compounding through ever-larger private rounds before listing publicly, with Check Point-style founder pedigrees serving as the fundraising currency at each step.
The trend: Israeli cloud-security companies are converting founder reputation into progressively larger private funding rounds, consolidating their category through acquisitions on the way to US public listings.