Meta Networks

About Meta Networks

Meta Networks, founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneur Etay Bogner, developed a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform designed to modernize enterprise network security. Bogner, who previously founded companies like SofaWare (acquired by Check Point) and Neocleus (acquired by Intel), conceived the idea for Meta Networks based on his extensive experience in computer security, including building mesh networks. The company emerged from stealth in April 2018 with $10 million in seed funding from investors including Vertex Ventures and the BRM Group.

The firm's core offering, Meta NaaS, operated on a zero-trust, software-defined perimeter (SDP) model, providing a user-centric alternative to traditional VPNs. This service created a secure overlay network that connected employees, applications, data centers, and multi-cloud environments, regardless of their physical location. The platform was delivered as a service via a global backbone of Points-of-Presence (PoPs), aiming to reduce latency and improve the user experience for remote and mobile workers. By abstracting the physical network, Meta NaaS enabled identity-based access control, ensuring that users could only access authorized resources. Its business model targeted mid-sized enterprises (approximately 250-1000 employees) that required secure, flexible connectivity for a distributed workforce.

In May 2019, cybersecurity company Proofpoint, Inc. announced its acquisition of Meta Networks for approximately $120 million, consisting of $111 million in cash and $9 million in stock. The acquisition was completed to strengthen Proofpoint's cloud security offerings. Proofpoint integrated Meta Networks' Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) technology into its Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and web isolation product lines, enhancing its people-centric security platform by providing customers with more precise control over user access to applications. The acquisition added Meta Networks' technical team of about 20 employees in Israel to Proofpoint's operations.