SASE Vendor Cato Lands $200 Million Funding, Vows Channel Investment

Secure access service edge (SASE) provider Cato Networks just announced a $200 million funding round.

The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company announced its latest investments, which Lightspeed Venture Partners led. The latest funding brings Cato’s investment total to $532 million. In addition, the company values itself at $2.5 billion.

Hybrid working has brought increased attention to a company like Cato that brings together security, networking and access features onto the same platform. Cato offers a global private network with more than 65 points of presence and embedded next-gen security features.

Cato’s Shlomo Kramer

“Large enterprises are deploying Cato as their global network to reap the operational and business benefits of Cato’s proven and mature SASE platform. Cato is rapidly expanding its service capabilities, global footprint, and sales and marketing teams, while preserving our unique DNA of agility, simplicity, and ease of doing business that is so valued by customers and partners,” Cato CEO and co-founder Shlomo Kramer said.

Investments

Cato vice president of marketing Yishay Yovel said the funds will help Cato expand in terms of both product and personnel. Yovel said Cato will spend some of the money on increasing the functionality of its platform. He also said Cato will deepen its sales and channel resources.

Cato’s Yishay Yovel

Yovel said Cato drives 100% of its deals through the channel, and its partners include brokers, MSPs and VARs. He said partners will see increased investment.

“It’s go-to-market with the channel, events with the channel and thought leadership with the channel. Basically growing the types and quantities of channels that work with us,” Yovel told Channel Futures.

Yovel said Cato will grow its U.S. agent base and seek to add more MSP and VAR partners. The company earlier this year updated its policies and resources to help MSPs close deals.

Yovel said the agent channel has played a big role in Cato’s North American market growth since the vendor launched its U.S. agent channel in 2017.

“The agents are doing a great job for us and with us,” he said.

While brokers brought a loyal base of customers to the table for Cato, Yovel said Cato’s allowed agents to position themselves as thought leaders.

“They take them from these legacy connectivity and security platforms and move them over to this new platform. And I think it paid [off] for them,” Yovel said.

Michigan-based C3 Technology Advisors won Cato’s top-performing American partner award for 2020. C3 President Matthew Toth said Cato has earned his firm’s trust.

Matthew Toth

“Cato Networks continues to be a C3 trusted vendor simply because they execute better than the vast majority SASE companies. They may not get the love or attention that Cisco, Palo Alto, or VMware gets, but their execution and product delivery guarantee them a place in our recommendations on a regular basis,” Toth said.

Toth pointed to the product side as an area where Cato can harness the new funding.

“I hope Cato uses their additional funding to further build out their security platform and build upon the success they’ve had,” he said.

Past Investment

Cato last fall announced a $130 million funding round. Shlomo Kramer vowed at the time that Cato would increase its headcount from about about 260 to 400 people in a year.

Speaking a year later, Yovel confirmed that Cato is currently sitting at about 400 employees.

In addition, he said dozens of businesses transact more than $250,000 annually with Cato. Several enterprises, he added, have eclipsed $1 million.