KnowBe4 reaches $1bn valuation with latest investment round
Cybersecurity company KnowBe4 has achieved a valuation of $1 billion following a $300 million investment round led by KKR, reports Jane Connolly.
Existing investors Elephant and TenEleven Ventures also participated in the round. The latter joined KKR in making an initial investment in KnowBe4 earlier this year. KKR will make its investment through its Next Generation Technology Fund.
KnowBe4 provides the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, which is designed to create an “educated human firewall” within any organisation.
More than 90% of advanced and targeted attacks involve phishing and preying on employees. KnowBe4 serves more than 25,000 organisations and has over $100 million of recurring revenue.
The investment will fund platform development and will build on nearly triple-digit growth to achieve global expansion.
“We built KnowBe4 to serve an important market need and it’s very, very gratifying to have reached this milestone as evidence that we’re doing what we set out to do,” says KnowBe4’s CEO, Stu Sjouwerman. “Threats like phishing, ransomware and other forms of social engineering continue to plague organisations of all sizes, meaning the market for our security awareness training is growing at a rapid pace.”
KnowBe4 continues to invest heavily in its technology and has also made strategic acquisitions of companies such as Brazil-based El Pescador and Norwegian firm CLTRe.
