Get ready for Wiz mafia to forever reshape the future of cybersecurity
Talking about second and third-order consequences of Wiz's acquisition and the impact it is going to have on the future of the industry at large
There is no doubt that over the past several decades, Israel has been the leading force in cybersecurity innovation. From Check Point, Imperva, and Cato, to Cyera, and obviously, Wiz, we have gotten used to hearing about Israeli founders shaping the past, present, and future of the industry. Just over a year and a half ago, I wrote a piece titled Why Israel may become the winner in the global cybersecurity market, and what can make it fail and for those new to the topic it may be a good starting point.
In this blog post, I won’t be talking about the Wiz acquisition - there are plenty of good reads on that topic. Instead, I would like to talk about the second and third-order consequences of this acquisition on the ecosystem, and what I believe the impact is going to be on the startup landscape. The Wiz’s acquisition is not the end, but only the beginning of what’s to come.
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Short-term consequences are easy to see
It doesn’t take much to see the short-term consequences of the Wiz’s acquisition on the startup ecosystem.
First and foremost, this deal is likely to draw even more investors to cybersecurity. The story of a five-year-old startup getting acquired for $32 billion is too tempting for most VCs to ignore, especially at a time when there haven’t been many big outcomes in other sectors. And, let's be honest: the fact that the biggest acquisitions in both Cisco's and Google’s history are security or security-adjacent companies and that both happened in the span of two years, rightfully makes our industry a highly lucrative space to place VC bets.
Second, cyber-focused VCs are going to start using Wiz as a north star for their portfolio companies. Naturally, every investor would like their portco to make their dream of 200x exit multiple come true, even if most will miss the broader context (i.e., that Wiz founders have sold their first company for over $300 million, that few companies ever build the kind of execution machine Wiz had, that timing, market dynamics, and other factors have played a huge role, that few VCs offer anything close to the value that Cyberstarts and other early-stage Israeli VCs bring to the table, etc. etc. etc.).
Third, we are likely to see more aspiring founders developing an interest in cybersecurity, largely for the same reasons as VCs (it looks like a “very hot space”). In the long-term, this won’t have all that much impact on our industry since without the right expertise, experience, and network, they are highly unlikely to survive in this competitive space for long.
Fourth, Wiz’s acquisition is going to reinvigorate the cloud security market and create an opportunity window for a long list of players, from long-time contenders like Sysdig to new entrants like Upwind, and many, many others.
Obviously, this acquisition has the potential to have a significant impact on the broader landscape of players such as cloud service providers (CSPs), and what they will need to do to remain competitive, but that is outside of the scope of this piece.
Mafias in cybersecurity and the continued rise of Israel
The real long-term impact of Wiz's acquisition on the cybersecurity industry lies in the ripple effects on the security ecosystem as a whole. But, before we discuss it, let’s briefly talk about the impact of cybersecurity mafias on our industry.
Mafias in cybersecurity: a quick refresher
Although it may be tempting to think that winning companies and products come from outsiders who bring new perspectives and challenge the status quo, the current state of the cybersecurity industry shows that so far, it hasn’t always been the case. Instead, it is the tightly-knit networks of people who have previously worked together at influential companies and subsequently founded or led new startups that seem to have the most impact on the industry. I call these groups cybersecurity mafias (similar to the renowned "PayPal Mafia" in Silicon Valley).
One prominent example is the Check Point mafia. Founded in 1993, Check Point became a breeding ground for future entrepreneurs. Check Point alumni went on to start generational companies: Shlomo Kramer co-founded Imperva and Cato Networks, while Nir Zuk established Palo Alto Networks. Similarly, companies like Splunk, Okta, Cylance, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and Zscaler have produced their own mafias. Former employees from these organizations have leveraged their expertise and networks to launch startups, driving technological advancements and competitive dynamics in the industry. The impact of these mafias on the past and present of our industry is hard to overestimate.
For those looking to dive deeper into this topic, check out the previous articles in the series:
Image Source: Venture in Security
Israeli cybersecurity startups have been dominating the industry for the past 5 years
If it feels like Israel is leading in cybersecurity, it is because it is. If six to ten years ago the Israeli presence in cybersecurity was already strong, in recent years it has completely dominated the space.
About a year ago, Bessemer published their 'Cybersecurity Trends in 2024' report. The report says: "Reflecting on the past year's acquisitions valued over $100 million, we observe two main trends: (1) most acquired companies had between 10 and 50 customers and were primarily targeted for their teams and products, and (2) the acquisition price for “product-only” companies has increased with a median of ~$200 million to $300 million over the past year." This is very interesting, but what is even more interesting is what the report doesn’t explicitly call out.
Image Source: Bessemer
The thing the report doesn't mention is that out of 14 cybersecurity companies acquired in the year that followed for over $100M, thirteen were from Israel (Tessian, a single exception, is based in the UK). Israel has created the absolute acquisition factory. They've become really good at centering on a theme like data security posture management (DSPM) or non-human identity (NHI) and creating 4-6 companies who will take the market by storm, show practitioners and investors the art of the possible and out-executing everyone around, and then handily get acquired. This benefits the founders of these startups, VCs that design their capital allocation strategy to support this model, and the incumbents that get a solid pipeline of research & development talent to compensate for their own lack of innovation.
Not only have Israeli security players become great at building acquisition targets, but they have also perfected the existing and created new recipes for success. From early-stage VCs with established communities of security leaders interested in supporting the next wave of innovation, to venture studios, and tried and tested execution playbooks, there is an established body of knowledge about what companies should do to succeed.
Some recipes are rather hard to beat, such as the idea of raising a ton of capital and making it nearly impossible for others to compete. In 2024, Cyera doubled its valuation to $3B with a $300M Series D round, and days ago Island landed $250M in funding at a $4.8B valuation. Other methods of achieving and reinforcing leadership are new, such as having companies within the same VC portfolio that are doing well acquire those that aren’t. For example, in 2024, Wiz acquired Dazz, and a month before that Cyera acquired Trail Security.
If we look at acquisitions, the story is also rather interesting. Over the past three years,
Palo Alto acquired 3 companies, all of which were Israeli (Cider Security, Talon, and Dig Security).
CrowdStrike acquired 4 companies, all of which were Israeli (Reposify, Bionic, Flow Security, and Adaptive Shield).
Okta acquired 3 companies, of which only one was a security startup, and not coincidentally that one was from Israel.
While most of the five biggest cybersecurity M&As in 2024 were not Israeli startups, these companies were started a long time ago, and the Wiz deal in early 2025 which is the largest M&A in pure-play cybersecurity, overshadows many of them.
Overall, the rise of the Israeli startup ecosystem and the role it plays in cybersecurity globally have been quite remarkable. With Wiz’s acquisition, I think the best is yet to come.
From Check Point to Wiz: cementing the dominance of Israeli founders
When Check Point went public in June of 1996 on NASDAQ, it raised an incredibly impressive for that time $67 million. The fact that an Israeli cybersecurity company has seen sweeping success and brought great returns to its investors in only three years has signaled to other VCs that there is an opportunity. That, combined with the fact that many Check Point leaders with strong networks and the ability to recognize the next generation of cybersecurity innovation received capital they could now use to invest, kickstarted a perpetual growth loop.
I anticipate that Google’s acquisition of Wiz for $32 billion is going to have an ecosystem-wide impact of a similar magnitude. While both events are pivotal, the contexts differ. Check Point laid the foundational infrastructure for Israel's cybersecurity prominence, whereas Wiz's acquisition highlights, amplifies, and cements the established strength of this ecosystem.
Wiz didn’t just build the company - it built a movement
Unlike Check Point, which was trailblazing in a new industry and a largely unformed ecosystem, Wiz rose in a hyper-connected, mature, and overcapitalized global security market. Wiz’s founders didn’t just scale a business - instead, they helped set a new blueprint for Israeli cybersecurity startups:
Move fast, build big from day one
Think global from day one
Go where the market has been educated about the problem but where no established leader exists
Play in platform categories, not point products
Leverage every possible unfair advantage
Focus on the fastest possible time to value and lowest possible friction
Wiz has become a comparable for every investor. “How can you be the Wiz of your category?” is a question that nearly every founder is being asked about in 2025 by their VCs.
Wiz has minted a new generation of cybersecurity founders
Just like the Check Point mafia gave rise to companies like Palo Alto Networks, Imperva, Cato, and SentinelOne, to name a few, the Wiz mafia is inevitable.
Unlike the post-Check Point era, where it took years for alumni to re-enter the ecosystem as founders, Wiz employees are stepping out of a company that scaled from zero to hyperscale in under five years. They haven’t just built features or managed legacy tech; they’ve navigated the full stack of modern cloud security, operated in high-velocity environments, and sold directly to Fortune 1000 CISOs. That lived experience, from designing scalable architectures to executing aggressive go-to-market strategies, will give them an enormous advantage as first-time founders. They already understand how to move with speed, build with platform thinking, and target massive outcomes from day one.
As soon as golden handcuffs are over (and likely, shortly before that because for many, the opportunity cost will be too high), we will likely see an unprecedented surge in high-quality security startups emerging directly from Wiz alumni. These founders will raise a lot of capital fast, not just because of the pedigree, but because investors recognize that Wiz has become a training ground for elite startup talent. Their companies will be built with sharper messaging, more ambitious roadmaps, and a deeper understanding of US enterprise pain points. Early employees and engineers who saw hyperscale from the inside will recruit stronger teams, and scale smarter, having seen it done in real time and learned from the best.
In today’s environment where security budgets remain strong, cloud complexity keeps rising, and companies are thirsty for innovation, the market conditions are far more favorable to new founders than in the early 2000s when Check Point alumni were brainstorming what to do next. The next wave of breakout security startups isn’t just coming, it’s already forming inside Wiz’s Slack channels, Notion docs, and internal hackathons.
Wiz has prepared a new generation of angels and advisors
The impact of the Wiz acquisition will be felt far beyond the company’s exit. The founders of Wiz have been very active even before the deal, serving as advisors, angels, and sounding boards for other early-stage Israeli founders. I’ve heard a number of entrepreneurs say, “We spoke with Assaf and he said X,” a reflection of how embedded the Wiz team has become in the next generation of cyber innovation. Whether through direct angel investments, mentorship for Cyberstarts portfolio and beyond, or acting as design partners and early adopters (you can spot the Wiz logo on the list of customers of many early-stage security startups), the Wiz mafia is already acting as an accelerant, channeling capital, go-to-market wisdom, and high-conviction support into early-stage companies. This kind of ecosystem-building is rarely seen at such scale, especially while the company itself is still in hypergrowth.
Assaf Rappaport, Wiz’s CEO in particular, stands out as a central figure in this new wave of Israeli innovation. Public sources already list over 10 angel investments, and given the stealthy nature of many early-stage rounds, the actual number is likely much higher. Much like Shlomo Kramer after Check Point, Assaf is positioned to become a kingmaker, but this time with a broader reach, and the ability to help startups scale into dominant platforms. What Shlomo did for the network era, Assaf may do for the cloud era. With the liquidity now unlocked by the acquisition, and a proven interest in nurturing the ecosystem, he and the rest of the Wiz founders will become some of the most influential figures in cybersecurity for years to come.
What makes this moment even more significant is that it’s not just about one person or a handful of founders, it’s about an entire cohort of early team members who scaled Wiz from nothing to hyper-scale in record time. Dozens of early employees, product leaders, GTM execs, and engineers now have the experience, network, and financial freedom to start companies of their own or fund others. They’ve seen how to move fast, how to build platform-level products, and how to sell to the world’s largest enterprises with confidence. Combined with growing international investor interest in Israel, a mature local VC ecosystem, and increasing demand for innovative cybersecurity solutions, the conditions are perfect for an explosion of new startups.
Wiz is going to attract a new wave of investors to Israel
The Wiz acquisition sends a powerful signal to the global investment community: Israeli cybersecurity isn’t just about acting as R&D for the likes of Palo Alto, CrowdStrike, and Okta, it’s producing generational companies. This is going to change the types of startups that get funding. While point solutions will dominate the market for the years to come, and first-time founders will continue to benefit from having narrower and better-scoped areas of focus, there’s going to be a bigger appetite for funding platform ambitions.
Without any doubt, Wiz’s acquisition is going to attract even more capital to Israeli cybersecurity startups. Although the United States dominates the world in access to capital, more and more VCs are focusing on Israeli startups, sometimes overlooking their US-based counterparts. Not only are we going to see more capital from existing VCs flowing to Israel, but there may also be enough buzz to justify the creation of new cyber-focused funds. Back in 2024, Mickey Boodaei, Dan Amiga, Rakesh Loonkar, and Mike Fey pooled resources to create a new VC fund, Picture Capital. Will the Wiz team raise a new venture fund? Who knows, but Assaf is already an investor in Cyberstarts, and a founding LP and a member of the investment committee at Mensch Capital Partners.
Probably even more impactful than the increase in VC funding will be the influx of smart money from angels, especially from within Wiz itself. Early employees, engineering leads, product managers, and GTM leaders who’ve now seen hyperscale up close will become some of the most active and valuable early-stage investors in the region. Their capital comes with credibility, connections, and first-hand experience in building for modern security buyers. I expect to see a rise in pre-seed and seed rounds with participation from former Wiz execs, either independently or through emerging syndicates and microfunds. These angels won’t just write checks, they will come with real value-add, helping founders avoid mistakes, hire strong teams, get to product-market fit quickly and scale more efficiently than ever before.
Closing thoughts
In many ways, Wiz is to the cloud era what Check Point was to the network era but its impact could be even greater. Check Point laid the foundation, proving that Israel could build a world-class cybersecurity company. Wiz, on the other hand, is building the skyscraper on that foundation, demonstrating that Israeli companies can dominate at the platform level, move at hyper-scale, and define the next generation of security for the API-first world. Wiz’s success is destined to spawn a wave of new startups, many of which will be led by Wiz alumni who’ve seen what it takes to go from zero to $32 billion in record time. These founders won't be learning on the job. Instead, they will be iterating from an advanced playbook, backed by advisors, angels, and VCs who’ve all played key roles in one of the most successful security companies of the decade.
Assaf Rappaport and the rest of the Wiz founding team are going to shape the future of the Israeli and global cybersecurity landscape just as Shlomo Kramer and the Check Point mafia once did but with more capital, global reach, and modern-era instincts. With billions in liquidity, a strong desire to give back, and a deep understanding of what modern CISOs want, they will become the architects of the next wave of cyber innovation. Global capital is already paying attention. VCs will treat Israel as the epicenter of cybersecurity even more than before, and flock there in large numbers in the hope to back whatever comes next from the Wiz generation. I am sure that the next decade in cybersecurity is going to be interesting.
Write ups like this are why ViS is the best newsletter in the space. In fact, I don't even think it's close. Going forward, I'm keeping my eyes peeled on Wiz and the like.
Fabulous article Ross. I also loved the article about Wiz's marketing engine. Both are very thoughtful and unique perspectives. Thanks!