In 2002, Log-On and the founders presented Cedar with the concept of protecting enterprise databases. The Cedar team thought that it’s a ‘category building’ company that needs to be close to the market and the early adopters, which where in the U.S.  Cedar decided to invest in Guardium and build the company in the Boston area near our U.S.office. This was important as Cedar could assist Guardium closely in its build-out.  

 

Immediately after the investment, Cedar recruited from its network the CEO Ram Metser and the CTO, Dr .Ron Ben Natan. With this top team in place, Guardium's management took charge, came up with their own vision and executed on it. Ram and Ron led company to market leadership and to a successful acquisition by IBM. 

 

Ram Metser, Guardium’s CEO commented: 

"Cedar had a far reaching vision on what can become of this segment.  I want to commend Cedar and Amnon Shoham for their continued support during this seven-year journey as we were building Guardium to execute on this vision and, of course, for convincing me to join at the onset of the Company."

 

Guardium’s , CTO & VP R&D, Dr. Ron Ben Natan added,

"Cedar, which introduced me and Ram to Guardium, was active in the early days in a role that few VCs take on, helping to make decisions that are intuitive in nature when hard facts do not exist yet and there is little time to waste. This is my second time around working with Cedar - and I expect more to come."

 

In Cedar’s view Guardium is a showcase for every startup company. Bring in the best management possible to carry the task. Don’t follow the herd. Outline your own vision. Make sure that you are aiming at a big market. Build the best product possible with unique technology and great delivery. Execute. Build the right DNA in your company. Spend just the right amount of money to build great value to all participants. Value the power of partnerships. Further execute. Continue to grow your revenue while watching the bottom line. And yes, when the opportunity knocks execute on that as well.

 

“Guardium’s acquisition is another significant step in expanding our abilities to help clients govern and monitor data, and ultimately making their information more secure throughout its life cycle.”Arvind Krishna, general manager, IBM Information Management. 

 

Both Ram Metser and Ron Ben Nathan are now leading portfolio companies of Cedar Fund. 

Ram Metser, CEO of Scalebase

Ron Ben Nathan, founder and CEO of JSonar