Roger Pilc to Drive Expansion of Leading SSL VPN Vendor, Increase Global Market Share.
Fort Lee, NJ, June 9 – Whale Communications, a leading SSL VPN vendor, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Roger J. Pilc to Chief Executive Officer. Whale also announced that it secured $6.5 million in additional funding led by existing investors Goldman Sachs, Soros Fund Management LLC and the BRM Group. Pilc replaces co-founder and CEO Elad Baron who will remain on Whale’s Board of Directors.
Bringing to Whale an extensive executive and operations management background in the networking industry, Pilc is poised to extend Whale’s leadership in providing best-of-breed SSL VPN solutions for remote access. Pilc comes to Whale after four years as Chief Operating Officer at software company SMARTS, which was acquired by storage giant EMC Corporation for nearly $300 million. During Pilc’s tenure as COO, SMARTS revenue grew five fold as the company expanded into new geographies, channels, verticals and products categories.
“By appointing Roger Pilc as the new CEO, Whale is signaling to the industry that the company is committed to continuing its growth and leadership in providing next generation SSL VPN remote access solutions,” said Joseph Gleberman, a managing director at Goldman Sachs in the Principal Investment Area. “Roger’s years of successful senior management experience assures that Whale will remain at the forefront of this market.”
Baron will work with Pilc during the transition period and continue to serve on Whale’s board.
“Since Whale’s inception in 1998, Elad has served as CEO and has directed the company through tremendous growth. He is one of the founders of the SSL VPN market, having helped carve out what was then a new space and what is now a burgeoning market. His vision led Whale to the forefront of this industry,” said Gleberman. “We are grateful for his efforts and thank him for bringing Whale to where it is today.”
Recognized by industry analysts as a leader in the SSL VPN space, Whale’s SSL VPN is being used by Fortune 1000 and Global 1000 companies around the world including: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mutual of Omaha, Loews, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Hasbro and Krispy Kreme.
“It’s an exciting time for me to join Whale,” said Pilc. “Whale is a technology visionary and is a market leader in the SSL VPN space. This gives me a great foundation to build on and I welcome the opportunity to expand Whale’s market position.”
Pilc has an MBA from Harvard, an MS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, and a BS in Engineering from Cornell University.
About Whale Communications
Whale Communications is the leading enterprise-class SSL VPN vendor, enabling companies to provide employees, business partners and customers secure access to corporate data and applications from any web browser. Named a leader, visionary and tier-one SSL VPN player by major analysts such as Gartner, META Group, Forrester and Frost & Sullivan, Whale’s SSL VPN products have also won numerous industry awards such as Network Computing magazine’s Best SSL VPN for 2004. Its solutions have been securing enterprises worldwide since it was founded in 1998. Privately held, Whale is funded by prominent venture firms and industry leaders, including Goldman Sachs, Soros Private Equity Partners and the BRM Group, the founding investor of Check Point Software Technologies. The company is headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey and has international offices in Israel, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Whale Communications, e-Gap, Application Aware, Attachment Wiper, Whale and the Whale logo are trademarks of Whale Communications Ltd. All other trademarks are property of their respective holders. For more information about Whale visit: www.whalecommunications.com.
Aimee Rhodes
e-mail: aimee@whale-com.com
201-947-9177 ext. 1528