Israel Matzav: Another Israeli technology deal

Another Israeli technology deal

And another Israeli technology 'exit.' IBM is paying $225 million for the Israeli startup Guardium.

The deal will mark one of the best exits in recent years for venture capital funds, as only $21 million has been invested in Guardium since it was founded in 2002, under the name Defendo. Investors are expected to make over 10 times their investments. The major investors - and those reaping most of the profits - in Guardium include venture capital funds Ascent, Cedar Fund, StageOne Ventures and Veritas Venture Partners. Networking giant Cisco has also invested in Guardium.

The entrepreneurs behind the firm, founder Amnon Keinan and Lior Tal, who has since left the company, will also be getting a share of the proceeds. Two others who will benefit from the sale are Gil Migdan and Joseph Segev of Log-On Software.

Guardium develops solutions that allow secure access to enterprise data, including databases from IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and others. It also monitors the software for possible breakins and unauthorized access.

This is the 9th company IBM has purchased in Israel. I'm not aware of any purchases by IBM (or investments by Cisco) in companies based in Muslim countries.

Anyone think that's discrimination? Heh.

Israel Matzav: Another Israeli technology deal