Intel does it. Siemens does too. Companies from across the industrialized world have looked to Israel as a source of high-tech research and development.
Now, for the first time, a Canadian company, BlackBerry, will, too.
This week, BlackBerry announced it had acquired WatchDox, a data security company and a leader in “enterprise file sync and share” (EFSS) software. Although BlackBerry did not disclose terms of the deal, online source pegged the value at between $100 million and $150 million (US).
WatchDox, which was founded in 2008, has its formal headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., but has a 100-person R & D team in Petah Tikvah, Israel. It boasts a client list of more than 150 Fortune 1000 companies, as well as U.S. government agencies, private equity firms and most major Hollywood studios.
News of the acquisition was first broken by the business media in Israel. BlackBerry subsequently issued a news release acknowledging the purchase, saying, “The addition of WatchDox will extend BlackBerry’s commitment to help organizations securely connect employees with each other and with corporate information across all mobile and desktop platforms.”
Moti Rafalin, WatchDox’s CEO and founder, said, “Enterprises require secure mobile solutions that enable users to more easily collaborate and increase their productivity. WatchDox meets this need by uniting data-centric security with a user-friendly experience that is highly valued by our customers.”
Israeli Ambassador Rafael Barak said he was pleased with the acquisition. Beyond the immediate business implications, Barak said the purchase “marks and important landmark in Canada-Israel bilateral ties.”
“Israel is already home to more than 350 multinationals from all around the globe, including Intel, Apple, Facebook, Google, Walmart, Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Philips, Siemens, Samsung, LG and Huawei, who have established R&D centres, many following the acquisition of an Israeli start up. This week, Israel can proudly add the first Canadian company to this list and we look forward to even more collaboration between Israeli and Canadian firms.”
Barak told The CJN that while the embassy did not play a role in the WatchDox deal, it has made it its mission to bring Canadian and Israeli firms together. The WatchDox deal shows that Israeli companies often possess solutions to Canadian business challenges, particularly in cyber-security, life sciences, the environment and satellite technology.
“Israel has the engineering creativity and ingenuity,” he added.
The acquisition comes as the use of cloud-based services to store files continues to grow. That has led to concerns that as more mobile devices are used to access sensitive information, data breaches will ensue.
“BlackBerry is constantly expanding the potential of data security so that it enables more collaboration and sharing rather than creating limitations,” said BlackBerry CEO John Chen. “This acquisition represents another key step forward as we transition BlackBerry into the premier platform for secure mobile communications software and applications, supporting all devices and operating systems. Together with last year’s Secusmart acquisition, Samsung partnership, our own internal development efforts, and now the acquisition of WatchDox, we now have capabilities to secure communications end-to-end from voice, text, messaging, data and now enterprise file-sync-and share.”
High-tech entrepreneur Shlomo Kramer provided the seed investment in WatchDox. He currently serves as chair of its board. He is also co-founder of Imperva and Check Point Software, which provide data security products.