Increased demand for new-school security awareness training spurs 25th consecutive quarter of growth, with significant investment and continued global expansion
KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, today announced a significant year-over-year sales increase surpassing all previous records. In the Second Quarter of 2019, KnowBe4 has reached an impressive 50% over Q2 2018 along with increasing customer accounts to over 26,000.
The 25th consecutive quarter of explosive growth has been driven by an increase in demand for KnowBe4’s new-school approach, accompanied by rapidly expanding security awareness training content portfolio. The demand continues to grow globally as KnowBe4 increases its worldwide expansion with the acquisition of CLTRe, cementing its presence as Europe’s leading security awareness training and phishing platform. CLTRe helps raise an organization’s cultural security awareness from phishing attacks, turning employees into a “human firewall” capable of recognizing cyber threats.
Leading global investment firm KKR also recognized KnowBe4’s highly successful approach to security awareness training by making a sizable investment in the company in the second quarter of 2019. KKR’s investment, with participation from TenEleven Ventures, elevates KnowBe4’s valuation to over $1 billion. The investment from KKR reaffirms the demand for security awareness training as the last line of defense.
“We are extremely proud of achieving our billion-dollar valuation,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO, KnowBe4. “Only one percent of the companies who are founded get backed by venture capitalists. And only one percent of those companies earn a billion-dollar valuation. This milestone recognizes the importance of having new-school security awareness training as phishing attacks have increased, along with the consequences of falling victim to CEO fraud, ransomware, and spear phishing attacks.”
Other recent and notable milestones and awards for Q2 2019 include:
- KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman wins 2019 Excellence in Customer Service Award
- KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman was named a Glassdoor Top CEO for 2019
- KnowBe4 is one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces for 2019
- KnowBe4 is Network Computing UK’s Security Training and Consultancy Provider of the Year
- Computerworld names KnowBe4 to 2019 List of 100 Best Places to Work in IT
- KB4-CON’s second annual user conference in Orlando, Florida included over 700 CISOs, security awareness training administrators and other cybersecurity professionals
- Javvad Malik and Jelle Wieringa joined KnowBe4 as security awareness advocates
- KnowBe4 named a top workplace by the Tampa Bay Business Journal for a third consecutive year
Sjouwerman continued, “The growth in the European market has led us to the acquisition of CLTRe, which will add another layer of resources to help our customers create a secure organizational culture. We’re also planning to expand KnowBe4 into new markets where we see a need for this kind of training, such as Japan, Dubai, and Australia.”
For more information on KnowBe4, visit www.knowbe4.com.
About KnowBe4
KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 26,000 organizations around the globe. Founded by IT and data security specialist Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness about ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to awareness training on security. Kevin Mitnick, an internationally recognized cybersecurity specialist and KnowBe4's Chief Hacking Officer, helped design the KnowBe4 training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations rely on KnowBe4 to mobilize their end users as the last line of defense.
Number 96 on the 2018 Inc. 500 list, #34 on 2018 Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 and #2 in Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity 500. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida with European offices in England, the Netherlands, Germany and offices in Brazil, South Africa and Singapore.
