Check Point Buys Cloud Email Security Provider Avanan

Israeli security giant Check Point Software Technologies has joined the cybersecurity shopping spree with Monday’s announcement of a deal to purchase Avanan, a startup that sells tech to secure cloud email infrastructure.

Financial terms of the deal were not officially disclosed.  Media reports out of Israel — where both companies are based — valued the transaction in the range of US$250 million.

Avanan raised $41 million in two rounds of venture capital funding since launching in 2014. The company’s investors included Magma Venture Partners, Stage One Ventures, Greenfield Partners and TPG Growth. The company has 100 employees and claims it protects more than 5000 customers and over 2.5 million inboxes. 

“Avanan will integrate into the Check Point Infinity consolidated architecture to deliver the world’s most secure email security offering,” Check Point said in a statement. “This will be the only unified solution in the market to protect remote workforce from malicious files, URLs and Phishing across email, collaboration suites, web, network, and endpoint.”

[ NEWS ANALYSIS: The Race to Find Profits in Securing Email ]

For Check Point, the deal beefs up its product portfolio around cloud email and SaaS collaboration suites and provides new revenue opportunities in a red-hot product category.  

Check Point said the combined solution will allow organizations to:

• Modernize legacy solutions (SEG) with email security as a service and protect cloud email in less than 5 minutes.
• Stop 30% more infected emails than any conventional email security solution with best of breed malware protection and no impact in productivity: preventing phishing attacks and malicious files from landing in the inbox, eliminate hazardous clicks on emails with click time URL protection and prevent attack expansion before any damage is evident with automatic post attack remediation.
• Protect email data loss (internal and external) with the most secure and flexible solution: security admins have multiple response actions to protect data before it leaves the organization.
• Protect SaaS collaboration suites such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Teams, SharePoint, Slack, Box and more, from Malicious URLs, infected files, and data loss prevention (DLP).

[ READ: Avanan Raises $25 Million in Series B Funding ]

Industry watchers expect the email security market to reach $6 billion by 2024, driven mostly by the rapid COVID-related digital transformation. Several well-funded startups have emerged take on entrenched incumbents and the cloud email providers themselves — Microsoft (Office 365/Teams), Google (GSuite/VirusTotal/GCloud).

Among the companies that have raised funding to cash in on the multi-billion dollar email security market are Armorblox ($46.5 million raised), Material Security ($22 million raised), Egress Software ($47.4 million raised), Agari ($85 million raised), Valimail ($84 million raised), Area 1 ($82 million raised), Abnormal ($74 million), Inky ($32 million), and GreatHorn ($22 million). 

Related: Abnormal Security Raises $50 Million

Related: Check Point Acquires Dome9 for $175 Million

Related: Anti-Phishing Firm Area 1 Security Raises $25 Million

Related: Avanan Raises $25 Million in Series B Funding