Gigya identifies and authenticates online customers, allowing large Internet businesses to tailor personalized advertisements to their users.
By MAX SCHINDLERUpdated: SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 08:55Gigya workers during a company event (photo credit: FACEBOOK SCREENSHOT)
SAP, Europe’s largest software company, said on Sunday that it will buy Israeli- founded customer identity management firm Gigya in what will be yet another successful hi-tech exit for the Start-Up Nation.The purchase price was not disclosed, but Globes and TheMarker reported that SAP will pay $350 million in cash for the California-based company that also has offices in Tel Aviv, London, New York, Paris, Hamburg and Sydney.Gigya president Rooly Eliezerov confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that the contractual agreement will likely be finalized in a few weeks.According to TheMarker, Gigya’s three co-founders – Eliezerov, its chief strategy officer Eyal Magen and chief technical officer Eran Kutner, each of whom hold 5% of the company – are expected to walk away with $17m. each.Gigya, which serves some 700 companies, identifies and authenticates online customers, allowing large Internet businesses to tailor personalized advertisements to their users. In other words, the firm aggregates information from user accounts on social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, identifying their geographic location, social circles and personal hobbies and passing that data along to media companies.The company previously raised $105.8m. in seven rounds of funding from 10 investors, including Adobe Systems, Intel Capital and Israel’s Investment Partners, according to corporate database Crunchable. Its most recent funding round was in 2014 when the company was estimated to be worth approximately $300m.Gigya employs some 320 workers, 100 of whom are based in Israel.Germany-based SAP has some 335,000 customers in more than 180 countries, including 5,000 in Israel, among them the IDF and Israeli government, according to local marketing director Nurit Elhadad Koren.Earlier this year, SAP opened a research and development center, SAP Labs, in Ra’anana at a cost of $67m.SAP employs some 700 Israeli engineers and workers, many of whom focus on cloud technologies, interconnected smart devices – the Internet of Things, computer vision and machine learning.The company has operated in Israel since 1998, during which time it purchased several Israeli companies, including Shai Agassi’s Top Tier for $400m. in 2001; Top Manage for $10m. in 2002; and OpTier for $10m. in 2014.
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