Israeli tech CEO critically injured in Gaza sells startup for nearly $100 million

Itamar Ben Hemo did not need to join the war. At age 49, the Israeli tech entrepreneur was out of compulsory service. But after last year October 7 Attack On the Hamas side, Ben Hammo signed on as a reservist, confident that his experience fighting as a paratrooper in Lebanon in 2006 made him valuable to his country.

In January, during an emergency mission to Gaza to help a wounded soldier, Ben Hammo says he remembers hearing gunshots and feeling the burning pain. He was hit by a bullet that escaped his protective vest. Several organs were damaged.

Ben Hammo was taken to the hospital. He remembers thinking that he might not make it.

While Ben Hammo was recovering, the technology industry was in the midst of a rapid generational upgrade fueled by artificial intelligence. Businesses of all shapes and sizes continue to find ways to integrate technology into customer service, marketing and sales.

Rivery, which Ben Hemo helped launch in 2019, plays directly into this theme, specializing in software integration through AI. Through Ben Hammo’s hospital stays, surgeries and rehabilitation, Rivery continued to serve customers with assurances from other company executives.

Last week, nearly 11 months after Ben Hammo was hospitalized, it began. bought by a Pennsylvania-based cloud software company called Boomi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Boomi CEO Steve Lucas told CNBC that it was “in the neighborhood of $100 million.”

Lucas calls Bomi “Google Translate to business, “taking the many different types of software a company uses, regardless of programming language, and integrating them all into a single working system. That’s what makes Reverie so attractive.” The advantage, he said, is that it helps advance the integration of software using AI to analyze different types of data sets in real-time in the cloud.

During his three-month recovery, Ben Hammo held company meetings and spoke to investors from his hospital bed.

“To me, someone with that kind of guts has what it takes to make the software work,” Lucas said.

Rivery has approximately 100 employees and 450 clients worldwide. Ben Hammo said he had been approached by several other suitors but wasn’t looking for a deal until Bumi sent an email to his investors. Key early backers included Entry Capital, State of Mind and Tiger Global Management.

Lucas said advances in AI are happening so quickly that there are risks if companies are slow to properly adopt the technology.

“If you’re a CEO and you’re not thinking about how your company can have AI-powered enterprise units, you could be the next blockbuster,” Lucas said. Death of the once dominant video rental service.

Adding Reverie to Boomi will allow the combined company to keep the AI ​​on track, Lucas says, and when it goes off track, it can recognize it and address any customer service issues that arise. Will bring a human to solve it immediately.

“With no, incomplete or fragmented data, there is no AI,” Ben Hammo said. “We’ve found a way to solve this as information comes in, interpret it and manage it for clients.”

Still, Lucas says he’s well aware of the risks of making a significant investment in Israel.

The war, which began 14 months before the attack by Hamas, has not ended. Israel is still the target of rockets from Gaza and ballistic missiles from as far away as Yemen. More than 100 Israeli hostages are still in captivity, and it is unclear how many are still alive.

The human and financial toll in Gaza is unknown, but Hamas claims more than 40,000 people have been killed. Photos of the area show that few buildings remain intact due to the ongoing war.

“I’d be lying if I said we didn’t take into account the risks of doing business in Israel,” Lucas said “but some of the best technology in the world has come out of Israel.”

Shortly after Ben Hammo was killed, another River employee, Ete Galia, was killed on duty in northern Israel, where the country was fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. Galia, a 38-year-old reserve officer, was given equity in Revere so that his surviving family would benefit from the Bumi deal.

According to the Israel Innovation Authority, which is part of the Israeli government, about 15 percent of tech workers quit their jobs to join the military because of the war. Foreign investors stopped buying and investing.

But there are signs of recovery.

A recent report from PwC Israel shows that total exits from Israeli startups have eclipsed 2023 and the average deal size has now surpassed the 2022 numbers. “The 2024 fundraising numbers are now starting to align with pre-war numbers,” said Rotem Elder of Israeli venture firm 10D. A 10D report shows that cyber security companies are the biggest area of ​​focus for investors.

Israel’s stock market has also seen a recovery. Tel Aviv Stock Exchange More than doubled since the October 2023 low.

For Ben Hammo, the sale to Bumi is his second successful departure as a CEO and founder. He says that he has now fully recovered from his injuries.

“I have the energy to do it,” he said. “I’m so excited, we all understand the gift of this opportunity.”

Look: The length of the AI ​​investment cycle will surprise investors.