Israeli tech founder sells Rivery to Boomi after being wounded in Gaza

Itamar Ben Hemo did not have to join the war. At 49, the Israeli tech entrepreneur was well outside the reach of mandatory service. But after last year October 7 attack For Hamas, Ben Hemo enlisted as a reservist, trusting that his experience fighting as a paratrooper in Lebanon in 2006 made him valuable to his country.

In January, during what was supposed to be a quick mission to Gaza to help a wounded soldier, Ben Hemo says he remembers hearing a gunshot and feeling burning pain. He had been hit by a bullet that evaded his protective vest. Several organs were damaged.

Ben Hemo was rushed to hospital. He remembers thinking that maybe he wouldn’t make it.

While Ben Hemo was recovering, the tech industry was in the midst of a rapid generational upgrade due to artificial intelligence. Businesses of all shapes and sizes continued to look for ways to integrate technology into customer service, marketing, and sales.

Rivery, which Ben Hemo helped start in 2019, plays right into that theme and specializes in software integration through AI. During Ben Hemo’s hospital stay, surgeries, and rehabilitation, Rivery continued to operate and serve clients with the peace of mind of other company executives.

Last week, about 11 months after Ben Hemo was hospitalized, his startup was bought by a Pennsylvania-based cloud software company called Boomi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Boomi CEO Steve Lucas told CNBC it was “around $100 million.”

Lucas describes Boomi as “Google Translate for Business,” taking the different types of software a business uses, regardless of the programming language, and integrating them all into a single working system. What makes Rivery so attractive, he said, is that it helps advance software integration by doing so. in real time in the cloud using AI to analyze different types of data sets.

During his three months of recovery, Ben Hemo held company meetings and spoke to investors from his hospital bed.

“To me, anyone with that kind of strength has what it takes to make software work,” Lucas said.

Rivery has around 100 employees and 450 clients from all over the world. Ben Hemo said he had been approached by several other suitors but was not seeking a deal until Boomi emailed his investors. Early key sponsors included Entrée Capital, State of Mind and Tiger Global Management.

Lucas said advances in AI are happening so quickly that if companies are slow to properly adopt the technology, the risks are existential.

“If you’re a CEO and you don’t think about how your company can have AI-powered units, you could be the next Blockbuster,” Lucas said, referring to the death of the once-dominant video rental service.

Lucas says adding Rivery to Boomi will allow the combined company to keep the AI ​​on the right path, and when it goes off track, it will be able to recognize it and hire a human to quickly resolve any customer service issues that are arising.

“Without data, incomplete or scattered, there is no AI,” said Ben Hemo. “We’ve found a way to solve this as the information comes in, interpreting it and organizing it for customers.”

Still, Lucas says he is well aware of the risks of making a significant investment in Israel.

A war that began more than 14 months ago with the Hamas invasion has not ended. Israel continues to be the target of rockets from Gaza and ballistic missiles from as far away as Yemen. More than 100 hostages taken from Israel remain in captivity and it is unclear how many are still alive.

In Gaza, the human cost in lives and financial costs is not calculable, but Hamas claims that more than 40,000 people have been killed. Images from the region suggest that very few buildings remain intact due to the ongoing war.

“I would be lying if I said we didn’t consider the risks of doing business in Israel,” Lucas said. “But some of the best technology in the world has come from Israel.”

Shortly after the Ben Hemo attack, another Rivery employee, Itay Galea, died while on duty in northern Israel, where the country was fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. Galea, a 38-year-old reserve officer, was given shares in Rivery so his surviving family could benefit from the deal with Boomi.

According to the Israel Innovation Authority, which is part of the Israeli government, about 15% of tech workers left their jobs to join the military because of the war. Foreign investors postponed acquisitions and investments.

But there are signs of a rebound.

A recent report from PwC Israel shows that total exits by Israeli startups have eclipsed 2023 and the average deal size is now surpassing 2022 figures. Rotem Eldar of Israeli venture firm 10D said: “The “2024 fundraising numbers are starting to line up with pre-war numbers.” A 10D report showed that cybersecurity companies are the biggest area of ​​focus for investors.

Israel’s stock market has also seen a recovery, with Tel Aviv Stock Exchange more than double from its October 2023 lows.

For Ben Hemo, the sale to Boomi marks his second successful exit as CEO and founder. He says he has now fully recovered from his injuries.

“I have the energy to do this,” he said. “I’m very excited, we all understand the gift of this opportunity.”

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