Salesforce finalized its $2 billion acquisition of Israeli cloud backup company Own on Monday, marking its largest purchase since acquiring Slack for $28 billion in 2021. The deal, originally announced in September, was completed with a cash transfer earlier in the day.
Founded in 2015 by Ariel Berkman, Ori Yankelev, Sam Gutmann and Eran Cohen, Own (formerly OwnBackup) specializes in secure data management and backup solutions, primarily for Salesforce applications. The company had raised nearly $500 million in funding and was last valued at $3.3 billion during its peak in 2021.
Despite the sizable acquisition, investors from Own’s latest funding round in August 2021 may face losses, as the valuation of this exit falls below the $3.3 billion high achieved during the funding bubble. The 2021 round was led by B Capital Group and Alkeon Capital and saw Own’s valuation jump from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion within six months.
Own had its challenges during this period, including laying off 150 employees—about 10% of its workforce—in 2022. However, employees benefited from the company’s peak valuation as the final funding round included a $25 million secondary stock sale, allowing staff to cash out shares.
The acquisition’s major beneficiaries include Israeli venture fund Vertex, alongside U.S.-based Insight Partners, BlackRock and Tiger Global. Innovation Endeavors, an early backer of Own, also saw a significant return.
For Salesforce, which develops enterprise information systems and currently holds a market valuation of $311 billion, the acquisition strengthens its focus on data security and backup solutions.
The deal was overseen by attorney Erez Mizrahi, co-founder and head of the high-tech department at FWMK, representing Own.
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