Luminate Security
Israeli zero-trust access start-up (2017–2019) founded by veterans of "military cyber units", one of them reportedly from Unit 8200; bought by Symantec in 2019
| Luminate Security
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | Luminate Security Ltd. |
| Logo |  Luminate Security logo |
| Type | Private company (acquired) |
| Founded | January 2017 |
| Founder(s) | Ofer Smadari, Leonid Belkind, Eldad Livni |
| Defunct | February 2019 (acquired by Symantec) |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv and Palo Alto, California |
| Industry | Cyber security |
| Services | Zero-trust, "software defined perimeter" access to corporate applications |
| Parent | Symantec (from February 2019) |
Luminate Security (Luminate Security Ltd.) was an Israeli cyber-security company, with offices in Tel Aviv and Palo Alto, that sold software for secure access to corporate applications. It was founded in January 2017 by Ofer Smadari, Leonid Belkind and Eldad Livni, whom Ctech described as "all veterans of military cyber units who have worked at Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. and at cloud security startup Adallom" (Check Point Software Technologies; Adallom).[1] Symantec bought the company in February 2019.[2] The three founders went on to found Torq.
Founders and military service
When Luminate came out of stealth in March 2018, Ctech reported that it "was founded in January 2017 by Ofer Smadari, Leonid Belkind, and Eldad Livni, all have military cyber background and experience working at Check Point".[3] Reporting the Symantec deal, CyberScoop said: "Belkind's biography says he was a member of the Israeli military's famed technology team, Unit 8200" (Unit 8200).[4]
Funding and acquisition
Luminate raised $14 million in combined seed and Series A rounds from U.S. Venture Partners and Aleph, and was an alumnus of Microsoft's ScaleUp accelerator.[3]
Accounts of the price Symantec paid differ. Symantec did not disclose terms when it announced the deal on 12 February 2019; Ctech quoted "one person familiar with the matter" as saying that it was valued at $250 million, and the investment firm Insight Partners later also put the sale at $250 million.[1][5] Symantec's successor company, NortonLifeLock, stated in its annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that "The total aggregate consideration for the acquisition, primarily consisting of cash, was $139 million, net of $5 million cash acquired".[2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Meir Orbach, Symantec Acquires Security Startup Luminate Ctech, 12 February 2019, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 NortonLifeLock Inc. (formerly Symantec Corporation), Annual report for the fiscal year ended 3 April 2020: Acquisitions US Securities and Exchange Commission, 2020, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Raphael Kahan, Security Startup Luminate Emerges From Stealth Mode with $14 Million in Equity Ctech, 14 March 2018, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Joe Warminsky, With eyes squarely on the cloud, Symantec acquires Israeli network security firm Luminate CyberScoop, 12 February 2019, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Insight Partners, How Torq is leading the autonomous SecOps revolution Insight Partners, accessed 10 November 2026.