“The disappointment is for people who didn’t understand that the world has changed. A company’s valuation needs to be close to the cash it generates,” Rotem Iram, CEO and co-founder of Israeli cyber insurance company At-Bay, told Calcalist after the company was sold to German insurance giant Munich Re Group for $575 million.
Iram was referring to the gap between At-Bay’s 2021 valuation, during the unicorn bubble, when the company was valued at $1.35 billion, and the price at which it is now being sold.
Rotem Iram
(Photo: Avigail Uzi)
“We’re not in the same world,” he said. “In 2021, we had $50 million in insurance premiums. Today, we have nearly six times that amount in premiums, along with $30 million in cyber revenue.
“I understand that in 2021 we received a high valuation in a zero-interest-rate market with high multiples and raised money according to the market conditions at the time. Today, the market is realistic. It has gone back to basics. In practice, selling for $575 million in 2026 is a very significant event and a success.”
At-Bay was founded in 2016 by Rotem Iram, Roman Itskovich, who serves as chief risk officer, Etai Hochman and Tilli Kalisky. The company provides cyber insurance to businesses, but unlike a traditional insurer, it integrates monitoring, security and risk analysis capabilities into its product.
In other words, At-Bay does not merely insure customers in the event of an attack. It also tries to identify and reduce risk before an incident occurs. To date, the company has raised about $300 million.
Completion of the deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected in 2027. Munich Re Group is one of At-Bay’s investors and has also worked with the Israeli company in the insurance sector over the years.
Following the acquisition, At-Bay will join HSB, a subsidiary of Munich Re Specialty that specializes in insurance solutions combining technology and engineering. HSB has been a strategic partner of At-Bay since the company’s founding.
At-Bay is currently one of the 10 leading cyber insurance companies in the United States, with $280 million in premiums and more than $30 million in annual sales of cybersecurity products.
According to Iram, “All the investors made money in the deal. We care very much about our investors, and all the employees made money as well. An additional $300 million came in beyond the money we raised. We built a real company with 280 employees, and we will become a full business unit. No one is leaving. The founders are staying with the company too.
“When the ground shifts beneath your feet, most companies don’t survive the change in value. Few managed to get through the difficult years. The disappointment is for people who didn’t understand that the world had changed. A company’s valuation needs to be close to the cash it generates.
“Most growth companies collapsed and couldn’t withstand it. We grew sixfold. A change this violent kills 99% of companies, so we are a huge success.
“We built an insurance company without significant ownership by a financial institution. Building an insurance company with venture capital money and turning it into a market leader is no simple task. For me, this is a major success.
“Many other companies raised huge amounts of money and had difficulty generating returns. We were very conservative in raising capital, and that is why we succeeded in returning the investment.”
In addition to Munich Re Group, At-Bay’s investors include Qumra Capital, Microsoft’s M12 fund, Shlomo Kramer, Lightspeed, Glilot Capital, Acrew Capital and Khosla Ventures. The company employs more than 280 people in the United States and Israel.
At-Bay focuses on the U.S. small- and medium-sized business market, where companies often lack the resources and expertise available to larger corporations for effectively managing cybersecurity.
Through its unified security platform, At-Bay continuously identifies, monitors and reduces cyber risks for more than 35,000 insured companies throughout the policy life cycle. At the same time, it uses the insights it gathers to improve its underwriting processes.
Mike Kerner, a member of Munich Re’s board of management responsible for Global Specialty Insurance, said: “At-Bay’s strategic positioning, unique capabilities and growth potential make it a perfect addition to our insurance portfolio and an essential component of our future cyber offering.”
Jeffrey O’Shaughnessy, president and CEO of HSB Group, said: “HSB and At-Bay are a natural fit. Combining At-Bay’s leading cyber capabilities with HSB’s deep expertise in technology underwriting will significantly strengthen our value proposition in cyber and accelerate our innovation.”