BackBox, a Tel-Aviv, Israel-based network automation innovator, has made two major moves to progress as a pioneer in comprehensive network management and security solutions: It closed on a $32 million Series A round and relocated its global headquarters to Dallas.
The growth financing was led by growth-stage investment firm Elsewhere Partners, and will go toward building out a global team, scaling its offerings, and broadening market reach across the U.S. and Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Currently, BackBox works with more than 180 partners, such as CheckPoint, Cisco, F5, and Palo Alto Networks.
The new HQ will be designated for growing BackBox’s operations. It will also hold the company’s customer success, leadership, and sales teams, while the engineering and R&D teams remain in Tel-Aviv.
Leading it all is Andrew Kahl, a software industry veteran and operating advisor at Elsewhere Partners. Coinciding with the HQ and funding announcements, Kahl was appointed as BackBox’s CEO.
Kahl has vast experience scaling software companies from launch to IPO. Prior to Elsewhere Partners, he was the co-founder and SVP of operations at security software encryption company CREDANT Technologies, which was acquired by Dell.
He was also formerly the global VP of customer success delivery for NetApp and the chief customer officer for SailPoint.
“There is unlimited potential to expand BackBox’s market reach as network environments become more complex and IT constraints continue to evolve,” Kahl said in a statement. “I am thrilled with the opportunity to work with Elsewhere and the co-founders to help lead the next phase in the company’s journey—becoming a global leader in network automation solutions.”
Kahl—with the support of Elsewhere Partners—will build a lineup of executives in Dallas, where he will also be based. Elsewhere Partners Founder Chris Pacitti and VP Sloane Child will join BackBox’s Board of Directors.
Co-Founder and current CEO Arik Elias will stay on to support international sales efforts and Co-Founder and CTO Rafi Zvi will continue leading the operations in the Israeli office.
“Elsewhere Partners, Andrew and the go-to-market expertise they bring will be a winning combination for BackBox,” Zvi said in a statement. “Their dedication to customer success and experience scaling software companies will help BackBox continue to grow.”
BackBox assists companies in automating and streamlining complex corporate tasks, like distributed workforce needs. Its intelligent automation solutions secure network health and performance, and according to the company, it does so with fewer resources.
In the future, the company plans to keep enhancing its functionalities in network vulnerability detection and remediation, while expanding cloud automation and SaaS products.
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