Shlomo Kramer and Cato Networks have canceled plans to expand their real estate footprint in Tel Aviv, deciding they no longer need to lease another office building in the current Israeli tech market. The cyber company had planned to move into the House of Farmers on Kaplan Street in 2027, replacing Fiverr, but now says its existing space will be enough.
The move reflects broader concern that the local office market may slow as Israel’s tech sector changes, with more AI tools reducing programming needs and the dollar falling to below 3 shekels, making employees in Israel more expensive. Other large technology companies, including Wix, Rapid, Amdocs and Playtika, have already announced layoffs totaling thousands of workers.
Cato develops SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge, cybersecurity products for remote enterprise connectivity. The company says it is on pace for more than 1 billion shekels in revenue in 2025, after growing 43% in 2024. In June last year, it raised $359 million at a valuation of nearly $5 billion.
Cato is currently based in the Landmark Tower near the Sarona complex in Tel Aviv, not far from the building it had wanted to rent. The seven-story House of Farmers has about 6,400 square meters of space and was supposed to accommodate 500 new employees in Israel, including some staff from AIM, which Cato bought for $350 million in September. Cato currently leases about 17,000 square meters. The company said it is not abandoning hiring, noting it still has more than 260 open roles worldwide, including over 100 in Israel, and that an additional floor on the 37th floor of its current offices should provide enough room. “Therefore, we no longer need the House of Farmers at this stage,” the company said.
