From Tech Bubble to Munich Re Acquisition: At Bay CEO on the Cyber Insurance Shift
Rotem Iram, CEO of cyber insurance startup At Bay, discusses the company's acquisition by Munich Re for 575 million dollars, navigating the post-bubble tech downturn, and his decision to return to Israel.
The journey of entrepreneurship often mirrors agriculture, according to Rotem Iram, founder and CEO of cyber insurance firm At Bay. While hard work is essential, success also relies on favorable conditions. For At Bay, the financial climate shifted dramatically around 2021 as interest rates climbed and valuations dropped, forcing the company to scale tenfold simply to maintain its previous worth. Facing an unyielding market downturn and seeing peers struggle, the leadership ultimately decided that a strategic acquisition was the most pragmatic path forward.
In August, At Bay was acquired by German insurance giant Munich Re for 575 million dollars. While this exit might sound staggering, it arrived just five years after the startup raised funds at a staggering valuation of 1.35 billion dollars during the peak of the tech bubble. Having raised a total of 308 million dollars, the moderate exit represents a hard-fought success in a normalized macroeconomic environment. Iram notes that the era of zero-cost capital and easy sugar rushes has ended, making integration into a global giant the ultimate validation.
Navigating Macroeconomic Shifts
Reflecting on the ambitious targets set during the 2021 funding rounds, Iram acknowledges that the market reality of zero interest rates vanished overnight. When the company secured its financing, sales were doubling rapidly, fueled by venture capital inflows and booming valuations. However, the subsequent jump in interest rates to 5 percent altered the landscape completely, closing the capital spigot and demanding profitability.
In a startup you build a ship, but you do not control the ocean waves. The bottom line was that we could no longer grow exclusively on cyber insurance, which led us to expand into cyber security services as well.
Expanding Beyond Insurance
At Bay was founded in 2016 alongside Roman Itskovitch to address a fundamental market failure: traditional insurers lacked the actuarial data to price cyber risks for small and medium-sized enterprises. By combining continuous vulnerability scanning with tailored insurance policies, the firm bypassed traditional lengthy questionnaires. When the rise of ransomware and market changes squeezed profit margins, At Bay successfully pivoted to integrate active security monitoring alongside its coverage, ensuring resilient operations.
Returning to Israel
Despite running an American enterprise, Iram and his family made the momentous decision to return to Tel Aviv following the events of October 7 and the evolving geopolitical climate. Balancing leadership of a US-based firm from Israel requires an demanding routine of frequent transatlantic travel and unconventional working hours, yet Iram emphasizes that the sense of belonging and profound community connection in Israel outweigh the logistical challenges.
