13 April 2024 – According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Noname Security, a cybersecurity business that safeguards APIs, is in advanced discussions to sell itself to Akamai Technologies for $500 million. Noname, which has its headquarters in Palo Alto but Israeli origins, was co-founded in 2020 by Oz Golan and Shay Levi.
After raising $220 million from venture capitalists, the firm was recently valued at $1 billion in December 2021, after a $135 million Series C round led by Lightspeed and Georgian.
The insider said that even if the selling price represents a sizable drop from that value, the purchase would still be for cash at this point. The agreement needs to be binding and may be modified or not proceed at all.
Conclusion:
Even if Noname’s prospective selling price is just half of its previous private value, early investors will still benefit significantly from the sale. In the meanwhile, the agreement should enable later-stage investors, especially those who contributed after the previous round, to get a complete return on their investment, if not the profit they had anticipated during the prosperous days of 2021 when cash was pouring and values were high.
