Kaholo

Software Automation for "DevOps" Workers

Company Information

Website:

https://kaholo.io/

Sector:

Computer & Software

Location:

Israel

Kaholo is a software-as-a-service company.

Its software automates tasks for software developers and information technology experts.

By automating tasks, Kaholo’s software cuts development time and cost by 90%. This puts this company in position to disrupt the $12 billion global “DevOps” industry.

(Please note: This particular startup is raising funds from accredited investors only. An accredited investor is someone with a net worth of at least $1 million, or annual income of at least $200,000, or $300,000 with their spouse.)

DevOps — named for its combination of software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) — involves helping companies create and deliver software-related services faster.

The DevOps space has experienced strong M&A activity in recent years:

• Rocket Software, an IT services company, was acquired in October 2018 by Bain Capital for $2 billion.

• That same month, Perfecto Mobile, a company creating software for automatic testing, was acquired by a larger competitor, Perforce, for $200 million.

• And in September 2019, CollabNet, a software company focused on DevOps customers, was acquired for $500 million by TPG Capital.

Kaholo is revenue-generating as of 2020. Its initial customers include Check Point Software, a publicly-traded company with a $15 billion market cap, and its pipeline includes 30 additional customers.

Kaholo is led by Lior Lal, an entrepreneur with three successful exits, including an acquisition by IBM for $225 million.

Digital transformation is a top priority for many information technology, or “IT,” departments. But their biggest challenge is converting manual IT processes into automatic ones.

DevOps helps with this conversion. DevOps involves adopting processes and tools that allow for faster software release. This is done primarily through automation.

The problem is that current DevOps tools use proprietary coding languages that require the creation of lengthy software code. This consumes days of work and lacks flexibility.

Furthermore, these tools lack security controls. When used by non-DevOps personnel, it often results in unplanned spending, security exposure, and compliance violations.

To make matters worse, tech professionals frequently change companies. This means they leave behind scripts and files containing thousands of lines of code. Developers that are left with the mess need weeks or months to decipher these scripts. Meanwhile, the company is left paying engineers to play catch-up.

Kaholo has created a new type of tool. Simply put, its software enables programmers and IT professionals to build automation processes using a simple drag-and-drop mechanism.

This software is based on a complex engine that takes a variety of information points — plug-in data, process flow, and flow configuration — and turns them into an executable code that runs within the Kaholo engine.

At the same time, the company’s software includes an algorithm that takes existing code and turns it into a visual map. This map enables anyone, even those with a rudimentary understanding of programming, to understand software code quickly and easily.

Kaholo charges fees based on either a customer’s number of users, or the number of times it uses the software. The company’s target annual customer value is $25,000 from a small business (up to 250 developers), $100,000 from a medium-sized business (up to 1,000 developers), and $250,000 from a large business (at least 1,000 developers).

Kaholo has completed OurCrowd’s Labs/02 incubator. In addition to OurCrowd, this funding round will include capital from Fosun RZ Capital, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups.

Team Background

Ilan Yani - Co-Founder & VP of Product

Ilan has more than 10 years of experience as a DevOps developer. It was his experience developing and tracking so many software projects that inspired him to start Kaholo.

He began his career as a configuration manager with Banter, a software company acquired by IBM. From there, he continued in the same role with IBM for another two years.

After that, he was a configuration manager with Cellcom, Israel’s third-largest telecommunications company. He then became Configuration Director for Time to Know, an educational technology company whose platform is used by more than 100 schools globally.

More recently, Ilan co-founded VeroView, a company helping e-commerce businesses optimize their technology. After that, he founded Production Map, a company which helped businesses map and monitor computer programs.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

Lior Tal - Chief Executive Officer

Lior began his career in 2004 as a co-founder of Guardian, a digital security company. He worked there until 2006, and three years later the company was acquired by IBM for $225 million.

In 2006, he founded Insightix, a network access control company that was later acquired by McAfee, a computer security company.

In 2015, he founded Personity, a company using Artificial Intelligence to analyze social media profiles. This company was acquired by Totango, a software company.

Just before joining Kaholo, Lior served as CEO of Coralogix, a digital management company. While with Coralogix, he helped grew company revenues by 10x.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bar-Ilan University and studied at Boston University’s School of Management.

Matan Kadosh - Co-Founder & CTO

Matan has been a software developer since the age of 12.

While in high school, he was picked to be part of the Israeli Defense Forces’ “Gamma Project,” and sent to an elite cyber security unit called “Matzov.” There, he specialized in IT architecture and DevOps projects.

He later transferred to “Matzpen,” the army’s technology department, where he oversaw technology-related projects ranging from big data to cybersecurity.

After serving in the IDF, Matan joined a software development company called Any-App, where he served as a full stack developer and development team leader. He worked here until starting Kaholo.

Co-Investors

OurCrowd

Raising
$1.08 million
Committed
$0 (0%)
Current Valuation
$8 million
Min. Investment
$10000
Deal Type
Title II
(For accredited investors only)
Offering Type
Equity
Finance History
Notable Investors
  • OurCrowd
Learn more on OurCrowd