Gili Raanan
Israeli venture capitalist, founder of Cyberstarts and co-founder of Sanctum; Unit 8200 alumnus
| Gili Raanan
| |
|---|---|
| Image |  Gili Raanan (Cyberstarts team page) |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Venture capitalist and entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder of Cyberstarts; co-founder of Sanctum; former partner at Sequoia Capital |
Gili Raanan (also spelt Ra'anan) is an Israeli venture capitalist and entrepreneur. He founded the cyber-security venture fund Cyberstarts and co-founded the web application security company Sanctum. Ctech describes him as "an alumnus of the elite Israeli military intelligence unit 8200".[1]
Unit 8200
In June 2024 Ctech reported that Raanan, then 54, was "an alumnus of the elite Israeli military intelligence unit 8200" (Unit 8200), "who has behind him impressive personal exits worth hundreds of millions of dollars and the invention of the CAPTCHA method to prevent fraud".[1]
Sanctum, NLayers and Sequoia
Eran Reshef writes that he "founded and managed Sanctum together with Gili Raanan in 1997".[2] Ctech reported that Sanctum, "which developed a firewall for internet applications", was sold for $40 million in 2004. Raanan then founded NLayers, which was sold to EMC.[1]
According to Ctech, Raanan joined Sequoia Capital in 2009, and as a partner there "led the investments in Adallom, the first company set up by the Wiz founders that was sold to Microsoft, and the investment in Armis". An unnamed chief executive told the paper that "Sequoia closed the fund in Israel that was under his management".[1]
Cyberstarts
Raanan founded Cyberstarts in 2018.[3] In June 2024 Ctech reported that the fund had "a portfolio of only 22 companies whose combined value is $35 billion", five of them unicorns, "first and foremost Wiz".[1] Its website lists Wiz, Cyera, Island and Fireblocks among the companies it "partnered" with "on Day 1".[3]
Sunrise programme
In the same June 2024 investigation, Ctech reported that under Cyberstarts' "Sunrise" programme, chief information security officers (CISOs) of large organisations who advised its portfolio companies were awarded points "equal to percentages in the fund", which paid out cash at liquidity events. Recipients of Raanan's letters told the paper that "the mutual oral understanding is that the progress in accumulating points also involves purchases". Cyberstarts "vehemently denies" this. Raanan responded: "No CISO has ever received compensation for purchasing products; the answer is simple and absolute."[1]
Ctech later reported that in a letter of 27 June 2024 to 75 CISOs, Raanan wrote that "Cynical allegations about ethical problems in the Sunrise program have forced us to suspend payments within the program".[4]
See also
- Cyberstarts
- Sanctum (company)
- Eran Reshef
- Axis Security
- Unit 8200
- Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Sophie Shulman and Meir Orbach, The Gili Ra’anan model: Questions emerging from Cyberstarts' remarkable success Ctech, 13 June 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Eran Reshef, About Eran Reshef eranreshef.com (personal website), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cyberstarts, Cyberstarts Cyberstarts (Cyberstarts-side), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Sophie Shulman and Meir Orbach, Gili Raanan’s Sunrise payments model suspended as CISOs question ethics Ctech, 28 October 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.