Mobile phone manufacturer BlackBerry is buying Israeli file-sharing security company WatchDox. The Canadian company did not disclose financial details about the acquisition but sources close to the deal say that the Canadian company will pay $100 million for WatchDox, which has developed a technology to protect files and documents.
Sources inform "Globes" that Blackberry will set up a development center in Israel based on the acquisition of WatchDox, which employs 100 in its Petah Tikva office. BlackBerry is expected to confirm the acquisition in the coming hours.
Founded in 2008 by CEO Moti Rafalin and VP products Noam Livnat, WatchDox has raised $35 million to date from Shlomo Kramer (the company's chairman), Gemini Israel Ventures, Shasta Ventures, MTVP, Blackstone, and private investors. Shareholders, according to the company registry, include Mickey Boodaei and Rakesh Loonkar, who together with Kramer founded Trusteer, which was sold to IBM for $700 million in August 2013.
This is Kramer's third exit in the past two months after he sold Lacoon and HyperWise to Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. In December 2012, WatchDox itself acquired Israeli company InstallFree, which provides solutions for access to remote computers.
