Wiz Appoints Fazal Merchant as President and CFO to Prepare for IPO

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Israeli cloud security firm Wiz has appointed veteran executive Fazal Merchant as its president and chief financial officer (CFO) to continue its rapid growth and pave the way for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) in the next year.

Merchant’s appointment comes after the company turned down a reported $23 billion acquisition offer from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in July. Wiz’s CEO Assaf Rappaport emphasized that the company’s focus would now be on an IPO and reaching an annual recurring revenue of $1 billion.

Currently, Wiz generates approximately $500 million in annual revenue, having grown significantly since its 2020 founding. The company serves half of the Fortune 100 companies and has raised $1.9 billion in private financing, with a valuation of $12 billion after raising $1 billion in May 2023.

Merchant, who previously served as co-CEO of U.S. cybersecurity firm Tanium and CFO of DreamWorks Animation, highlighted Wiz’s healthy liquidity and its strategy to prepare for the IPO. He noted that IPO readiness could take 12 months, or potentially longer, depending on market conditions.

Merchant also emphasized Wiz’s goal of becoming the leader in cloud security as the global shift to cloud computing continues, with only 15% of the world’s infrastructure in the cloud. As the company expands in Europe and Asia, it sees significant growth potential in the cybersecurity sector.

 

Iconiq Growth Expands Leadership with Datadog’s Amit Agarwal as General Partner

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Iconiq Growth, the venture arm of Iconiq Capital, has appointed Amit Agarwal, President of cloud-based analytics firm Datadog, as a general partner in a strategic move to expand its leadership team. Agarwal brings over 12 years of experience from Datadog, a company that has been part of Iconiq’s portfolio for years.

In his new role, Agarwal will focus on software startups, particularly as artificial intelligence continues to reshape the technology landscape. Having worked closely with Iconiq Growth since its initial investment in Datadog in 2015, Agarwal’s ties to the firm run deep, especially through his relationship with Iconiq partner Matthew Jacobson, who sits on Datadog’s board.

“I want to join a multistage firm where I can invest in companies at different stages of their growth,” Agarwal stated. He emphasized the significant role Iconiq plays as a partner to its portfolio companies, leveraging its vast network of high-net-worth individuals, including influential tech figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, to support founders.

This addition to the leadership team follows Iconiq Growth’s expansion, which included five new partners last year, bringing the total to 16. The firm closed a $5.75 billion fund in 2024, despite a broader decline in venture capital fundraising, according to PitchBook. The larger fund size enables Iconiq Growth to delve deeper into early-stage investments, with half of their recent investments going to startups with revenues under $10 million.

Recent hires at Iconiq Growth have focused on experienced executives from major companies, also known as operators, further reinforcing its commitment to active engagement with portfolio companies.

 

DAMAC and MANTRA Sign $1 Billion Deal to Tokenize Real Estate Assets in the Middle East

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Dubai’s leading developer DAMAC Group has entered into a landmark deal with MANTRA, a blockchain platform that specializes in tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), to tokenize at least $1 billion worth of assets in the Middle East. The partnership, announced on Thursday, aims to convert rights to real estate and other assets into digital tokens on a blockchain, making them tradable and owned online.

DAMAC, a major player in Dubai’s real estate sector, has been expanding its investment portfolio to include global data centers. In a separate announcement earlier this week, DAMAC’s Chairman Hussain Sajwani and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump revealed plans to invest $20 billion in data centers across the United States in the coming years.

Amira Sajwani, DAMAC’s Managing Director of Sales & Development, expressed the company’s enthusiasm for exploring new technologies and innovation. “Partnering with MANTRA is a natural extension of our commitment to forward-thinking solutions,” she stated.

The first assets to be tokenized will be available on the MANTRA blockchain in the Middle East later this year. The partnership follows MANTRA’s earlier agreement with MAG Property Development to tokenize real estate assets worth $500 million, starting with a residential project in Dubai, the Gulf’s premier tourism and business hub.

The United Arab Emirates, and particularly Dubai, has been positioning itself as a global center for digital assets, including the cryptocurrency industry. In 2017, the Dubai Land Department launched a blockchain platform to record real estate contracts and link them to utility and telecom accounts, part of the city’s broader effort to attract leading companies in the digital and crypto sectors and establish robust virtual asset regulations.