Wib flies into UK&I with Kite Distribution

The API security specialist says it is targeting a growing demand in the region

API security start-up Wib has appointed Kite as its first distribution partner for the UK and Irish market.

The appointment is part of the start-up's ongoing channel strategy as it continues to experience strong market demand and adoption of its API security platform, Wib said.

API security is seen as a major priority for UK businesses by the Israel-HQ start-up, driven by increased compliance and regulatory requirements.

According to Gartner's Hype cycle for API security report, 98 per cent of organisations use or are planning to use internal APIs; 94 per cent use or are planning to use third-party public APIs; 90 per cent use or are planning to use private APIs provided by partners and 80 per cent provide or are planning to provide publicly exposed APIs.

Wib said it hopes the partnership with UK-focused VAD Kite Distribution helps accelerate its go-to-market momentum, increase market reach, stimulate end user demand and drive customer acquisition.

"API security is one of the biggest challenges facing digitally driven organisations today," said VP of global partnerships and alliances at Wib, Keren Michaeli.

"We are seeing growing market maturity and awareness around this challenge in the UK, which has led to high demand and market traction for our unique platform approach.

"We needed a specialist partner to help scale our channel presence and capitalise on this demand and Kite ticked those boxes.

"Kite's strong ecosystem of partners focused on key markets such as ecommerce, finance, retail, telecos, and automotive coupled with their ability to take disruptive technologies to market made them the right fit for us."

Wib ramping up channel strategy

The Tel Aviv-based start-up has been ramping up its global channel presence with the recent appointment of Michaeli, who joined in February 2023 with the aim of driving Wib's channel strategy and relationships.

Michaeli is a seasoned sales executive, specialising in building cloud-based business development and channel go-to-market strategies.

Her experience spans more than 15 years focusing on strategic partnerships and alliances development which she will leverage in building out Wib's channel ecosystem.

Stuart Nairne-Clark, business development director at Kite added: "As a value-added distributor specialising in disruptive technologies it is imperative that we remain at the forefront of innovation for our channel partner ecosystem.

"Our vendor strategy and selection is critical to this. As the market for API security matures, we see a massive opportunity for channel partners and as such needed a vendor partner that we could build a proposition around.

"However, from a technology perspective, it was crucial for us to distinguish the genuine opportunity from the hype, and it was clear that Wib had the most comprehensive and advanced API security solution on the market.

"We are delighted to partner with them and look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship."