Cybersecurity training platform Immersive Labs raise US$75m
Immersive Labs, a company that teaches organisations to measure and improve cybersecurity skills across technical and non-technical teams, announced it has closed $75m in Series C funding led by new investors Insight Partners alongside Menlo Ventures, Citi Ventures, and existing investor Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
The investment will be used to help accelerate the delivery of a new Cyber Workforce Optimisation platform. The platform will use data insights to understand where skills are required and inject role-specific training, it will also enable board-level metrics and benchmarking.
Founded in 2017, Immersive Labs has now raised a total of $123m in venture funding and counts HSBC, Vodafone, and the NHS as customers. Growing at over 100% year-on-year, it has recently been named in numerous industry and business awards as an innovation leader.
Cyber risks becoming a growing problem
James Hadley, CEO and Founder of Immersive Labs, said, “With cyber risk becoming a problem for a growing number of business functions, cybersecurity knowledge and skills should no longer be the preserve of a few technical people hidden away in a back office. Everyone from the teams who build software to the CEO now needs to play their part in addressing a pervasive company issue. This requires unlocking and evidencing skills in a much broader group of people.
“The first step to achieving this lies in understanding where capabilities are lacking which, until now, has been impossible. This investment will allow us to add new analytical capabilities and content to provide a more detailed picture of skills across the growing breadth and depth of cyber exposure facing organisations, helping them measure and manage risk better.”
Immersive Labs currently has 200 people, with joint operations HQs in Bristol, UK, and Boston, US. As well as building out its platform, the funding will also go to expanding its international presence. The company plans to triple global headcount to over 600 in the next two years and establish operations in new regions throughout APAC and Europe.
“The labor crisis in cybersecurity is a hard problem to solve. To protect against ever-evolving threats, the cyber workforce must constantly expand and evolve. Immersive Labs helps large organisations confront this head-on by combining smart data analysis with targeted training,” said Venky Ganesan, Partner at Menlo Ventures. “As a veteran cybersecurity investor, I find the opportunity for Immersive Labs to solve a massive problem with a horizontal solution exciting. The cybersecurity threat will only increase, making Immersive Labs futureproof as they seek to help large enterprises educate and arm themselves against ever-evolving threats.”
