Schwarz Group Acquires Security Startup XM Cyber For $700M

‘With the backing and international footprint of the largest European retailer, we can accelerate innovation and growth and further strengthen our position in the global cybersecurity market,’ says XM Cyber Co-Founder and CEO Noam Erez.

Schwarz Group has bought rising star XM Cyber for $700 million to secure complex hybrid cloud networks and proactively prevent cyberattacks using the attacker’s perspective.

The Neckarsulm, Germany-based retailing giant said its purchase of Herzliya, Israel-based XM Cyber will enhance security around Schwarz’s digital business models. XM Cyber will continue to operate independently, offer its full suite of products under its current brand and support structure, and provide its global customers with the same level of service they receive today, according to Schwarz Group.

“XM Cyber brings deep technical understanding and innovation that perfectly complements our portfolio for advanced cybersecurity services,” Schwarz Group Chief Information Officer Christian Muller said in a statement. “Finding and closing security gaps from an attacker’s perspective is a disruptive approach to the way organizations can proactively protect their networks.”

[Related: WATCH: XM Cyber Fights Hackers With An Automated Red Team]

XM Cyber was founded in 2016, employs 113 people, and has raised $49 million in four rounds of outside funding. The company most recently closed a $17 million Series B funding round in July 2020 led by Macquarie Capital.

The company said it helps organizations cost-effectively close security gaps before systems are compromised by discovering critical attack paths across on-premises and multi-cloud networks. Becoming part of Schwarz Group will allow XM Cyber to further expand and develop its business model, according to the company.

“We are thrilled to become part of the Schwarz Group,” XM Cyber Co-Founder and CEO Noam Erez said in a statement. “With the backing and international footprint of the largest European retailer, we can accelerate innovation and growth and further strengthen our position in the global cybersecurity market.”

Schwarz Group is the parent company of German global discount supermarket chain Lidl and German hypermarket chain Kaufland, making it Europe’s largest retailer as well as the fourth-largest retailer in the world by revenue. The conglomerate employs 500,000 people across Europe and the United States and generated roughly $141 billion of revenue last year.

“We continuously extend our range of digital products for our customers, for example, our online shops, our marketplace, or our loyalty programs,” Schwarz Group Chief Digital Officer Rolf Schumann said in a statement. “With the solutions of XM Cyber, we offer our customers even more services and evolve the shopping and customer experience in a more holistic way.”

XM Cyber’s channel partner community spans the gamut from resellers, distributors and systems integrators to MSSPs, referral partners, and technology alliance partners. The company works primarily with European solution providers, but also has relationships with partners like Memphis, Tenn.-based Cyber Guards, Irvine, Calif.-based Trace3 and Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The company’s global sales, field operations, and strategic partnerships and alliances have been overseen for the past year by Uri Levy, who had previously spent several years leading global channels for breach prevention vendor Skybox Security.

“Great effort, amazing people, awesome technology …. inevitable success,” Levy wrote on LinkedIn Monday. “Just another important milestone in an ongoing journey.”