I have some exciting news for you today.
Goldman Sachs believes in our mission, has invested in us, and is now on our board of directors. Another announcement with some more excellent news will follow in a few days.
Here is an extract from the funding press release that goes out this morning:
"Tampa Bay, FL – October 24, 2017. KnowBe4, Inc. today announced it secured 30 million dollars in growth capital financing led by new investor Goldman Sachs Growth Equity (GS Growth) with existing investor Elephant participating. The new round brings KnowBe4’s total financing to 44M dollars and comes on the heels of an explosive quarter of continued growth.
The new funds will primarily be invested in international growth and product development, further demonstrating KnowBe4’s commitment to help organizations enable their employees to make smarter security decisions.
In Q3 2017, KnowBe4 announced its sales were 2.63X greater than Q3 2016. This marks the 18th straight quarter of growth, driven by an increasing enterprise demand for its new-school approach to security awareness training.
“KnowBe4 has separated itself as a leader in the cyber-security awareness training market, with their platform becoming a “need to have” for businesses across sectors and geographies in the fight against cyber-threats,” said Hans Sherman, a Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division, who will join the KnowBe4 board of directors in connection with the investment.
Sherman continued: “With an innovative approach towards ensuring that their clients’ security systems and practices are layered, KnowBe4 empowers its users to protect against phishing and cyber-attacks. Our financing will support the company’s continuing growth as they expand globally and develop new products to serve this fast-growing market.”
And my take on this super exciting news is that I will continue to provide you with the best-in-class platform for security awareness training and simulated social engineering attacks. We will frequently add fresh training content and new powerful features, combined with fanatical customer support, and super affordable pricing!
Here is some feedback we received on this news:
"Congratulation Stu! Your product has “set the bar” for all the professional cyber security training. We have only begun to demonstrate the many pain points our organization has, but KnowBe4 is and will continue to be our partner."
-D.M. (Current customer)
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"Congratulations!! KnowBe4 is a great company and we are happy to be one of your very satisfied clients!"
-V.B. (Current customer)
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"Congratulations Stu! I can tell you that we have been extremely happy with your product. I believe we are at 750 seats currently and I have a verbal confirmation that the CEO of a major hospital would like a demo of your product. That appointment should happen within the next two weeks. If that goes through there is a potential for 10,000 seats."
-A.L. (MSP)
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"That's fantastic. What an incredible journey you have had in two years! Congratulations!
R.M. IT Director" (Current customer)
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"Stu,
You guys never cease to amaze me. I was just talking to another ISO recently about how your business has grown. I am sure much of it is from word of mouth referrals and sales because you offer an excellent product at a good price. Also, you continue to be innovative in this space and not be satisfied with the status quo. Keep up the great work!
S.L. (Current customer)
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"That’s awesome Stu! You guys are rockin’ it! I talk end user security with people, and KnowB4 comes up time and time again, and ALWAYS in a positive light. Keep up the good work…"
J.R. (Current prospect)
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"Congratulations! You and your team are doing great work. You have excellent products, the market is in need of what you offer, and there is a solid organizational culture at KnowBe4. I know you will continue to be successful."
L.P. (Current prospect)
Warm regards,
Stu Sjouwerman
Founder and CEO, KnowBe4, Inc.