Israeli cybersecurity firm SCADAfence has recently been acquired by American company Honeywell, as announced on Monday. While the specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, it is estimated that Honeywell paid a sum likely in the tens of millions of dollars for this Israeli startup.
SCADAfence provides cybersecurity solutions for technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) networks. In March of this year, they successfully closed an additional funding round of $16 million with investments from Fujitsu Ventures Limited (through a fund managed by its subsidiary Fujitsu), Mitsubishi Electric, and Prosegur corporations. Notable existing investors include Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) Global Brain, HCS Capital, and Rapid7.
By leveraging their platform, SCADAfence enables organizations with OT networks to integrate industrial IoT while minimizing cyber risks and addressing operational threats. Founded in 2015 and with a workforce spread across Israel, the United States, and Japan comprising 60 employees, SCADAfence has raised $40 million so far. As part of the acquisition deal, SCADAfence will now become a component of the Honeywell Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Tel Aviv.
To further strengthen their cybersecurity offerings in digitalization, sustainability, and OT security SaaS solutions, the SCADAfences product portfolio will be integrated into Honeywells Forge Cybersecurity+ suite within their software division known as Honeywell Connected Enterprise.
Honeywell, with its headquarters located in Charlotte, North Carolina, has a workforce of 97,000 employees as of the conclusion of 2022. At present, their market capitalization stands at $137 billion.
"We are thrilled to join Honeywell as we work towards fulfilling our mission of empowering industrial organizations to operate securely, reliably and efficiently. This combination creates significant opportunity for growth, allowing us to combine our top-tier OT cybersecurity products with one of the world's leading companies in industrial software," said Elad Ben Meir, CEO of SCADAfence. "With this acquisition, we are poised to deliver some of the most advanced OT security technology to Honeywell's broad customer base, bolstering the comprehensive Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity+ offering. We remain committed to proactively serving and supporting our customers across all verticals and geographies where we currently operate."
Kevin Dehoff, president and chief executive officer at Honeywell Connected Enterprise, said: "It is essential to protect and maintain the integrity of operational systems like process control equipment in manufacturing facilities. A simple breach in the OT environment has the potential to create safety and business continuity risk for organizations of all sizes. OT assets are inherently different than those in the IT environment as they are domain specific. Honeywell has been delivering and installing these systems for decades, which is why we launched our cybersecurity business more than twenty years ago. Adding SCADAfence's product portfolio will strengthen our capabilities and help our customers defend themselves against cyber security risks which are progressively increasing.”