PhishMe Raises $2.5M Series A Funding to Support its SaaS Solution that Helps Train Employees to Recognize Malicious Emails

CHANTILLY, Va., July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- PhishMe Inc., a spear phishing simulator, today announced it has closed a $2.5 million Series A round, led by Paladin Capital Group. The company will use the funding to support its expansion in the U.S. and abroad, to enhance its sales and business development efforts, and to solidify future technology partnerships while continuing to enhance the product line and provide a premier level of professional services to its customers. With this new investment, Christopher Steed, Vice President at Paladin Capital, is joining PhishMe Inc.'s Board of Directors.   

PhishMe Inc. offers a turnkey service that helps change employee behavior in responding to targeted phishing attacks – the #1 attack vector used to compromise corporate and government networks today. PhishMe, which provides phishing awareness training for employees of government agencies, universities, and large enterprises, has successfully trained over 3.5 million workers to protect themselves from the increasingly-sophisticated tactics and scams employed by today's cyber criminals and foreign actors. With PhishMe, employees are immersed in real-world "spear phishing experiences" and presented appropriate bite-sized training if found susceptible.

"This strategic partnership will bring a new and unique perspective on cyber security to employees and users worldwide. We look forward to working with Chris and hope this will be a long and beneficial relationship," said Rohyt Belani, CEO and Co-Founder, PhishMe.

"PhishMe's solution and professional services offer a refreshing method to mitigate the advanced persistent threat," said Christopher Steed, Vice President, Paladin Capital Group. "PhishMe addresses the root cause – the human – in an effective, yet sensitive, manner."

"At Paladin, we're proud to support innovative companies like PhishMe that are bringing to market unique solutions that solve major, worldwide problems like security in the cyber age," said Lieutenant General (Ret.) Kenneth Minihan, Managing Director at Paladin Capital. "When you look at the largest data breaches that have occurred over the past few years, it is clear that defending our most vital assets cannot be accomplished through physical and IT security alone. PhishMe's approach to using hands-on cyber security education and awareness to improve Internet safety behaviors is critical to combatting today's most advanced threats."

Paladin Capital's investment will help accelerate PhishMe's technology development and help the company foster new partnerships in the industry, which are already underway.

About PhishMe
PhishMe provides organizations the ability to train their employees and customers about the risks of spear phishing with just a few simple clicks. With over 3.5 million individuals trained since its launch in 2008, PhishMe provides a cost effective way to mitigate this challenge. The company has proven that its training can reduce the threat of employees and customers falling victim to phishing attacks by up to 85 percent.

PhishMe is a leader in anti-phishing training and focuses on educating users on how to best protect themselves from the latest scams. Using PhishMe's built-in templates and simple functionality, companies can emulate real phishing attacks against their employees within minutes. PhishMe facilitates and automates the execution of mock phishing exercises against the employees and provides clear and accurate reporting on user behavior. Most importantly companies are able to focus their training efforts on the most susceptible employees by providing immediate feedback to anyone that falls victim to these exercises. Additionally, PhishMe adds customizable interactive games to the suite of training modules enterprises can deliver to their staff and customers. PhishMe works with Federal Agencies and Fortune 1000 companies across multiple vertical market sectors including financial services, healthcare, higher education and defense. For additional information, please visit. www.phishme.com

About Paladin Capital Group
With offices in Washington, D.C., New York, New York and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Paladin Capital Group is a leading multi-stage private equity firm providing capital and strategic guidance to growing companies in the IT, telecommunications and alternative energy sectors.  The firm focuses on companies with products and services that are "dual use" in nature, serving both commercial and government customers.  Paladin has over $950 million dollars of committed capital across multiple funds and has invested in over 50 portfolio companies.
www.paladincapgroup.com

SOURCE PhishMe