“White Ops is a gold standard in bot detection and mitigation and we’re delighted to be able to partner with them, especially at a time when levels of cybercrime are increasing significantly, there is an accelerated shift to digital, and the Company has seen a meaningful increase in the demand for their services. We look forward to working with the management team to continue their track record of innovation in this large and fast-growing market.”
– Anthony Arnold, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
“White Ops’ technology platform and bot detection framework are highly differentiated in its industry, helping detect and prevent the most sophisticated forms of digital fraud. We look forward to helping maximize White Ops’ growth potential, including expanding into new industry verticals and serving new use cases.”
– Matthew Popper, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
“As bot-based fraud becomes increasingly prevalent across the internet, enterprises and internet platforms require sophisticated threat protection now more than ever. We look forward to partnering with management to continue to build on White Ops’ leadership position in the industry.”
– Jay Leek, Managing Partner, ClearSky
“Goldman Sachs and ClearSky are ideal partners to support our growth across multiple markets, use cases and geographies. Their investment in the Company and support of our mission to disrupt the economics of cybercrime puts us in an incredibly strong position to extend our leadership and execute on our vision for the collective protection against fraud and abuse.”
– Tamer Hassan, CEO
Transaction Overview
- White Ops, a global leader in bot mitigation and fraud protection, today announced the completion of an investment by Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and ClearSky Security to support the Company in its next phase of growth
- The new funding comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the ongoing shift to cloud-based cybersecurity providers. As organizations of all sizes continue to rely more on distributed and dispersed workforces, they need cybersecurity solutions that follow the user — regardless of where they are located or what device they are using — with the same security procedures and protection that they would have in the office
- The unique, cloud-native iboss platform constantly defends organizations from cyberattacks by screening and securing all internet traffic in the cloud, regardless of device or location
- With this investment, a member of the Goldman Sachs team will join representatives from previous investors Paladin Capital Group and Grotech Ventures on the White Ops board of directors
- Terms of the transaction were not disclosed
- White Ops was founded in 2012 by Tamer Hassan, Ash Kalb, Dan Kaminsky, and Michael Tiffany. The company verifies more than 1 trillion human interactions per week across the Internet to prevent fraud and bot attacks
- White Ops' ClearSky Security invests in companies that offer transformative security solutions with a specific focus on cybersecurity, critical infrastructure security, privacy, data governance and compliance. The firm has over 60 years of security investing and practitioner experience
Transaction Significance
- The investment will enable White Ops to further accelerate its growth and expansion on a global basis, support product development, and expand into new vertical markets. The Company's core mission is to protect enterprises from sophisticated bot attacks and fraud across the domains of Cybersecurity, digital advertising, and marketing, serving some of the largest enterprises and internet platforms
- Bad actors with millions of sophisticated bots at their disposal cause fraud at the rate of tens of billions of dollars a year against companies across the globe. These sophisticated bots live on consumer and enterprise devices, sharing browsing history and habits with real humans, which makes them especially difficult to detect
- White Ops' multilayered detection methodology, advanced algorithms, Satori Threat Intelligence and Research Team, and massive scale can detect and prevent these automated attacks at every level of sophistication, protecting customers' sensitive data, reputation, compliance, bottom line and customer experience as they grow their digital business
- Today, White Ops verifies the humanity of more than 1 trillion interactions per week and growing, providing an incredibly broad and deep platform to stop nefarious activity across the internet. As the shift in consumer and enterprise engagement toward digital channels continues to accelerate, it is a critical time to be proactive in protecting against fraud and sophisticated bot attacks
Momentum Cyber's Role
- Momentum Cyber served as exclusive Strategic Advisor to Goldman Sachs & ClearSky
- This transaction demonstrates Momentum Cyber's deep domain expertise in cybersecurity M&A and its proven track record advising leading investors and financial sponsors on strategic investments in bot mitigation, fraud prevention, and digital security platform providers
If you’re navigating a critical inflection point in cybersecurity growth, M&A, or capital strategy, Momentum Cyber brings unmatched sector expertise and senior-level advisory to every engagement. Let us advise you today and help you maximize value with confidence in an increasingly complex cyber landscape.