Akamai acquires Noname Security for $450M to strengthen API security

US company Akamai Technologies has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Israeli application programming interface (API) security company Noname Security.

Akamai will pay $450 million for Noname, 55% below the $1 billion valuation it received in its last financing round when it raised $135 million in December 2021. On that basis, the most recent investors in the company will post a decline in value of their investments. The big winners in the acquisition deal are the early-stage investors, among them Gili Raanan and Lior Simon from Cyberstarts, and Insight Partners. Lightspeed was another early investor, but it also participated in the latest round. Nevertheless, $450 million still gives a positive return for investors who have invested a total of $220 million.

Akamai says that Noname will enhance its existing API Security solution and accelerate its ability to meet growing customer demand and market requirements as the use of APIs continues to expand. Akamai also expects to gain greater scale with Noname’s additional sales and marketing resources, and established channel and alliance relationships.

Noname Security was founded by Oz Golan, former director of research and development at NSO, and Shay Levi, who previously worked at ironSource and Meta. The pair first came to Cyberstarts with the idea of setting up a new cybersecurity company, and after meetings with data security managers at various companies, decided to focus on API.

APIs enable software programs to communicate and present information together. Tourism websites such as Booking.com, for example, use them to enable hotels to display room availability at all times. They represent a vulnerability for large enterprises, and cyberattacks can exploit them to steal customer details from databases. Noname competes with Salt Security, another Israeli company, which has so far raised $270 million, and was valued at $1.4 billion in it last fund raising round in February 2022. Akamai EVP and general manager Security Technology Group Mani Sundaram said, “Applications run our world, but as applications and users proliferate, so do security risks. Akamai has seen a growing need for API protection with our own data showing 109% year over year growth in API attacks. With the addition of Noname, Akamai believes it will have the breadth of integrations and deployment choices needed to deliver comprehensive API protection for customers across all environments.”

Golan said, “We’re excited to join forces with Akamai. This acquisition marks a thrilling new chapter in Noname’s journey, as we strive to enhance API security for organizations worldwide. Together, we’re committed to building a more secure future for everyone.”

Akamai has previously bought four Israeli companies, one of which was Neosec, which also deals in API security. Akamai set up an Israeli development center for data security based on its acquisition of Cotendo in 2011. Since then, it has also bought Guardicore and ChameleonX. Noname’s over 200 employees, including CEO Oz Golan, are expected to join Akamai’s Security Technology Group.