Gili Raanan

Gili Raanan
גילי רענן
Born1969 (age 56–57)
Kfar Saba, Israel
Occupationsventure capitalist and entrepreneur

Gili Raanan (Hebrew: גילי רענן; born 1969) is an Israeli venture capitalist and former founder of multiple software companies. Raanan started Sanctum in 1997, the company that created the Web application firewall AppShield and the web application penetration testing software AppScan. He later started NLayers which was acquired by EMC Corporation. He was a general partner at Sequoia Capital, the founder of Cyberstarts, and board member at Wiz, Adallom, Onavo, and Moovit, Snaptu.

Biography

Gili Raanan was born in Kfar Saba, Israel. He served in Unit 8200 for ten years. He received IDF Innovation Award (1992) and Israel Defense Presidential Prize (1996).

He earned a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University in 2002 and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University's Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration.

Business career

Raanan started Sanctum in 1997, and created AppShield, a web application firewall and AppScan, a web application penetration testing tool.

Raanan later started NLayers in 2003 which was acquired by EMC Corporation pioneering the science of Application discovery and understanding.

Venture capitalist

In 2009 Raanan joined Sequoia Capital in Israel as a General Partner. In 2018 Raanan founded Cyberstarts, which is an early stage VC focused on Cybersecurity. Raanan was an early investor in Wiz, leading its seed round in 2020. In March 2026, Google completed its $32 billion acquisition of Wiz, which Forbes described as Google's largest acquisition and the largest-ever acquisition of a venture-backed startup

According to Forbes, Raanan was the first investor and mentor to more than 20 cybersecurity companies, including Armis, Island, Cyera, Upwind and Noname Security.

In June 2024 the Israeli business news outlet Calcalist published an investigation into Cyberstarts' business practices, writing that "points worth tens of thousands of dollars are awarded to CISOs of organizations for deepening relationships with the fund's portfolio companies, aiding their growth" and "mutual oral understanding is that the progress in accumulating points also involves purchases." Raanan and the fund responded by saying that "No CISO received compensation for purchasing products."

Honors

In 2026 Raanan was honored as one of the 14 torchbearers in the national Israeli Independence Day ceremony. In 2026, Forbes ranked Raanan fourth on its Midas List and first on its Midas Seed List. Forbes credited his ranking in part to his 2020 seed investment in Wiz.

References

  1. ↑ Weinberg, Neal (23 September 2003). "Sanctum's AppShield". Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  2. ↑ "Quick Takes: AppScan release secures Web applications". 10 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  3. ↑ "Sequoia - Gili Raanan". Sequoia Capital. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  4. 1 2 "Sequoia Israel Partner Launches New $50 Million Cybersecurity Fund". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  5. ↑ Shamah, David. "Microsoft to acquire Israeli start-up Adallom for $320m". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  6. ↑ "TechCrunch". TechCrunch. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  7. ↑ Orbach, Meir (2020-05-04). "Intel Inks Deal to Acquire Moovit for $1 Billion". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  8. ↑ Russell, Jon. "Facebook Takes Internet.org And Its Free Mobile Data Services To India". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  9. ↑ Hill, Kashmir. "Meet The Ex-NSA And Ex-Unit 8200 Spies Cashing In On Security Fears". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2024-03-30. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  10. ↑ Holmes, Aaron (2022-08-16). "How a Former Sequoia Capital Partner Cornered the Israeli Security Startup Market — The Information". The Information. Archived from the original on 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  11. ↑ Wrobel, Sharon (2023-09-24). "Israel’s Cyberstarts closes $480m fund for cybersecurity investments | The Times of Israel". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 2024-03-03. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  12. ↑ "Gili Raanan | Cyberstarts". www.cyberstarts.com. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
  13. ↑ "Gili Raanan: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  14. ↑ Messmer, Ellen. "CNN - New tool blocks wily e-comm hacker tricks - September 7, 1999". CNN. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  15. ↑ "Sanctum focuses on QA, Web services with Appscan". Computerworld. Archived from the original on 2024-06-22. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  16. ↑ "NLayers raises $3m from Walden, Gemini - Globes". en.globes.co.il. 2003-07-14. Archived from the original on 2024-06-22. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  17. ↑ "EMC Buys Israeli startup nLayers". Ynetnews. Associated Press. 2006-06-09. Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  18. ↑ "Gili Raanan Joins Sequoia Capital - PE Hub". 2009-03-18. Archived from the original on 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  19. ↑ "Israeli cybersecurity VC fund CyberStarts raises $50m". Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  20. ↑ "Gili Raanan: You Need to be Greedy and Selfish to Win Early Stage Investing | Why Margins Do Not Matter for Early-Stage Startups". www.thetwentyminutevc.com. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  21. 1 2 "Gili Raanan". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  22. ↑ "Inside The Earliest Bets Of The AI Era". Forbes.
  23. ↑ "The Gili Ra'anan model: Questions emerging from Cyberstarts' remarkable success". ctech. 2024-06-13. Archived from the original on 2024-06-16. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  24. ↑ "לתפארת מדינת ישראל: אלו 14 משיאי המשואות" [In honor of the State of Israel: These are 14 torchbearers]. kipa (in Hebrew). 2026-04-16. Retrieved 2026-06-06.
  25. ↑ "Forbes 2026 Midas Seed List: Top Seed Stage Investors". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-09-08.