Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the intelligent edge platform for securing and delivering digital experiences, announces it has agreed to acquire Montreal-based Inverse. The acquisition is intended to enhance Akamai’s enterprise security capabilities and expand its portfolio of zero trust and secure access service edge solutions for IoT.

Inverse provides a robust data repository and world class algorithms capable of identifying an expansive universe of IoT, mobile and other device types. These include HVAC, lighting systems, medical equipment, robotics, printers and beyond, along with a deep understanding of their expected network behaviors.

“Any number of internet-connected devices can be a jumping-off point for malware to discover and exfiltrate sensitive corporate data,” said Ludovic Marcotte, president and chief executive officer, Inverse. “The Fingerbank data lake provides visibility into the device landscape - what the devices are communicating with and their typical behavior. With an anticipated 41.6 billion internet-connected devices by 2025, according to IDC, this data is essential so that enterprises can apply the correct security controls.”

“Enterprises already have thousands of ‘things’ connecting to their networks, and that number is only expected to grow, making securing the enterprise ever more difficult. Gaining context and visibility into the device landscape, with what the devices are communicating and their typical behavior is critical,” said Dr. Robert Blumofe, executive vice president, platform and general manager, enterprise division, Akamai Technologies. “By combining the Inverse device fingerprint data repository with Akamai’s own security data from the 1.3 billion device interactions that take place daily across the Akamai Intelligent Edge security platform, we believe we can create an industry leading solution to apply zero trust controls and enhanced security to the full landscape of devices and workforce.”

The all-cash transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Akamai's 2021 financial results. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter 2021.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about expected benefits to Akamai from the acquisition. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, financial results that impact Akamai’s stated 2021 margin goals, inability to successfully integrate the technology and personnel of Inverse, failure to provide expected benefits of combined technologies, and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.