Battery Ventures Hires Ex-Palo Alto Networks, Bridgecrew Executive Barak Schoster Goihman to Expand Israel Presence

Schoster, a venture partner, is based in Tel Aviv and will pursue investments in cloud, infrastructure, cybersecurity and data analytics

Barak Schoster Goihman, a technology entrepreneur and operator who was the co-founder and CTO of Bridgecrew*, an open-source, developer-first cybersecurity startup acquired last year by Palo Alto Networks, has joined Battery Ventures as a venture partner to help lead investing efforts in its Israel office and fund companies with global reach.

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Battery Ventures Partner Barak Schoster Goihman (Photo: Business Wire)

Schoster joins Battery as the 39-year-old firm begins deploying its latest investment funds, capitalized at a combined $3.8 billion. Battery opened its first office in Israel in 2007 and has partnered since then with companies across various technology sectors, including enterprise infrastructure, development tools, B2B applications, cybersecurity, fin-tech, advanced materials and semiconductors. Coordinated with the closing of its newest fund, the firm recently relocated its Israel office to Sarona, Tel Aviv.

Since the acquisition of Bridgecrew—the company behind the popular open-source tool Checkov—Schoster has been working from Israel as a senior director at Palo Alto Networks leading developer advocacy; open-source, product-led growth (PLG) initiatives; and architecture efforts related to DevSecOps inside the company’s Prisma Cloud business, of which Bridgecrew is a part.

“We are thrilled to welcome Barak to Battery and to add a smart and well-networked operator to our team,” said Scott Tobin, senior partner at Battery. “We got to know Barak initially through our investment in Bridgecrew’s Series A round; we were consistently impressed by him as a dynamic CTO and could not be happier that he’s decided to remain in the Battery family as a full-time investor.”

Added Dharmesh Thakker, a Battery general partner based in Silicon Valley who led Battery’s Bridgecrew investment: “Barak is a true pioneer in building large, open-source communities enabling product-led growth within the cybersecurity industry–first at Bridgecrew and then Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma. We welcome him to our software team and are excited to continue to back promising Israeli startups and help them expand their go-to-market operations on a global scale.”

In his new role, Schoster will focus on infrastructure investments in areas including cybersecurity, open-source software, DevOps, cloud infrastructure and data/machine learning. He will be a full-time member of the global investment team and will work closely with colleagues in the U.S. and Israel. In Tel Aviv, the current team includes Scott Tobin; Battery Partner Shiran Shalev; and Battery investment-team members Adi Dangot Zukovsky, Lior Mallul and Nikki Hassan.

“I am so impressed by Battery’s track record of partnering with innovative tech companies not just in Israel, but around the globe, and am humbled to join the team,” said Schoster. “Battery has supported some of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs, and it is a privilege to be part of the team that will help build the next generation of innovative companies.”

Earlier in his career, Schoster was a software architect and data engineer at startup Fortscale, which was acquired by RSA Security. Prior to that, he worked as an engineering team leader focused on big data and machine learning in the Israel Defense Forces.

About Battery Ventures

Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, consumer tech, healthcare IT and industrial technology and life-science tools. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, New York, London and Tel Aviv. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here.

Battery Ventures provides investment advisory services solely to privately offered funds. Battery Ventures neither solicits nor makes its services available to the public or other advisory clients. For more information about Battery Ventures’ potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies, please refer to our website. For a complete list of portfolio companies, please click here.

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