Blaze (company)
Canadian web-performance start-up co-founded by Guy Podjarny and Mike Weider; bought by Akamai in 2012
| Blaze
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | Blaze.io |
| Logo |  Blaze.io logo, 2012 (archived website) |
| Type | Private (Blaze Software Inc.); acquired |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder(s) | Guy Podjarny, Mike Weider |
| Headquarters | Ottawa, Canada |
| Industry | Web performance (front-end optimisation) |
| Parent | Akamai Technologies (from 2012) |
Blaze (Blaze Software Inc., trading as Blaze.io) was an Ottawa-based start-up that sold a cloud service to speed up websites. It was co-founded in 2010 by Guy Podjarny and Mike Weider, and Akamai Technologies bought it for cash in February 2012.[1][2] Podjarny has said he served in Unit 8200.[3]
History
The Ottawa Citizen reported in November 2010 that Weider, the 40-year-old founder of Watchfire, which was "sold to IBM Corp. in 2007 for an estimated $100 million", had launched Blaze.io. It described the 31-year-old Guy Podjarny as Blaze's co-founder and "also a Watchfire alumnus".[2] Podjarny said he "co-founded Blaze with Mike Weider, who was the founder of Watchfire and my boss in IBM", adding that Weider "joined it a little bit as a late co-founder; I started before". He described the deal as "a team and technology acquisition", less than 20 months after incorporation.[4] Podjarny was chief technology officer and Weider chief executive.[3]
On 8 February 2012 Akamai Technologies announced that it had bought Blaze Software Inc., "a provider of frontend optimization (FEO) technology, in a cash transaction". Akamai said Blaze was based in Ottawa and had been founded in 2010.[1] After the deal Podjarny became chief technology officer of Akamai's web experience business.[5]
People
Podjarny said that Peter McKay, later chief executive of Snyk, was "already my board member in Blaze", and that Ed Sim of Boldstart Ventures "was one of the small investors in Blaze".[3] Snyk's leadership page says its interim chief executive Ken MacAskill had worked with Blaze.[6]
Unit 8200 link
Podjarny told The Decibel Podcast that he spent "four-and-a-half years in the army" in a programme that led into "the 8200 unit".[3] Verdict reported that he ended "his stint with 8200 in 2001".[7]
See also
- Guy Podjarny
- Akamai Technologies
- Snyk
- Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Akamai Technologies, Akamai Acquires Blaze PR Newswire (press release, Akamai-side), 8 February 2012, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vito Pilieci, Watchfire founder starts new web venture Ottawa Citizen, 8 November 2010, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Jon Sakoda, Guy Podjarny, founder of Snyk: building conviction on a contrarian bet The Decibel Podcast (transcript), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Adam Stacoviak, From acquisition to full conviction with Guy Podjarny, Founder of Snyk Founders Talk (podcast transcript), no. 71, 3 July 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Ron Miller, Snyk snares $7 million investment to help developers secure open source code TechCrunch, 6 March 2018, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Snyk, Snyk Leadership Team Snyk (Snyk-side), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Eric Johansson, Snyk’s founder on DevSecOps, a $4.7bn valuation and IPO plans Verdict, 9 August 2021, accessed 21 October 2026.