GreenSQL, a Tel Aviv-based startup, recently raised a $1.5 million round from Magma Venture Partners, reports Startupmania. The company was founded earlier this year though the open source project upon which it is built dates back to 2007.
GreenSQL’s open source database firewall addresses the vulnerability of databases to SQL injections. SQL injections are attacks on databases where, in instances of user input not being strongly typed or being incorrectly filtered for string literal escape characters, attackers are able to add logical expressions and commands to original queries. These actions enable attackers to, among other things, retrieve records and get past login screens.
The company was founded by a group of entrepreneurs with backgrounds in the security software industry. Amir Sadeh, CEO, previously founded Onigma, which was acquired by McAfee in 2006 for $20 million in cash. David Maman, Hadar Eshel and Yuli Stremovsky also have backgrounds in security software, having worked for Fortinet, TrekIT and RSA, respectively.
It seems like a strong bet given the team experience and the fact that security software is a key domain of Israel’s software sector. The investment also suggests that VCs still consider open source to be a compelling investment opportunity. Other Israeli (or Israel-related) companies focusing on commercializing open source projects include Magento and Kaltura, which can be read about here and here.
