Similarweb
Israeli web-analytics company founded by Or Offer, a former IDF canine-unit soldier who served at an outpost inside the Gaza Strip, with friends from an "IDF elite technology unit"
| Similarweb
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | Similarweb Ltd. |
| Logo |  Similarweb logo |
| Type | Public company |
| Founded | 2009 (date of incorporation; the founder gives 2007) |
| Founder(s) | Or Offer |
| Headquarters | 33 Yitzhak Rabin Road, Givatayim 5348303, Israel |
| Industry | Digital data and web analytics |
| Services | Website traffic and digital-market intelligence |
| Homepage | similarweb.com |
Similarweb (Similarweb Ltd.) is an Israeli company that sells data on website traffic and online markets. Its founder and chief executive, Or Offer, has said that he started the company with "a friend of mine, who had just been released from an IDF elite technology unit" and "a few more friends who had served with him in the unit" (Israel Defense Forces). Offer himself served in Oketz, the IDF's canine unit, partly "in an outpost inside the Gaza strip".[1] The company floated in New York in May 2021.[1]
Founders and military service
In a 2021 interview with Ctech, Offer said that Similarweb began as a browser extension: "I convinced a friend of mine, who had just been released from an IDF elite technology unit, to come and help me with programming and he brought in a few more friends who had served with him in the unit, and in 2007 we founded the company. We operated like that until 2011, with seven or eight people." He said that "The IDF's 8200 unit wanted to draft me because I was already a programmer, but I was not interested", because he wanted to be a combat soldier, and "I ended up in Oketz ('Sting' in Hebrew) the IDF's canine unit" (Unit 8200). He told the paper: "During a big part of my service, I was caring for dogs in the south, in an outpost inside the Gaza strip. Being a dog operator is a unique position, even as a young soldier, you join experienced combat forces, you casually speak with brigadiers and lieutenants generals."[1] The interview did not name the friend or his unit.
Corporate history
Accounts of the founding date differ. Offer told Ctech that "in 2007 we founded the company".[1] The company's 2021 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission says that it was "incorporated in 2009" and that "Or Offer founded our Company in 2009"; it lists Benjamin Seror as co-founder and chief product officer, and gave the principal executive offices as 121 Menachem Begin Road, Tel Aviv-Yafo 6701203.[2] The company's website now gives its Israeli office as Derech Yitzhak Rabin 33, Givatayim 5348303.[3]
According to Ctech, Similarweb began trading in May 2021, "in the midst of the latest round of fighting on the Gaza border", at a value of $1.6 billion, raising $180 million.[1]
A British subsidiary, Similarweb UK Limited, is registered at Companies House.
See also
- Unit 8200
- Similarweb UK Limited
- Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Sophie Shulman, A diamond in the rough: The story of SimilarWeb founder Or Offer Ctech, 15 August 2021, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Similarweb Ltd., Form F-1 registration statement US Securities and Exchange Commission, 15 April 2021, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Similarweb, Contact Us & Book a Demo Similarweb, accessed 10 November 2026.