KnowBe4, the US-based cybersecurity awareness and simulated phishing platform operator, has formed a corporate venturing arm called KnowBe4 Ventures.
Cybersecurity-focused venture capital firms Elephant and Ten Eleven Ventures have teamed up with KnowBe4 to manage the unit, which will help reinforce human cyber protection initiatives.
KnowBe4 Ventures, which will invest off the parent company’s balance sheets, will target seed to series B-stage companies whose technologies have a human-centric element and are a strategic fit for KnowBe4’s products.
Stu Sjouwerman, chief executive of KnowBe4, said: “Cyber attacks continue to plague organisations in every industry, the majority of these attacks target the human.
“It is important to support founders taking on the challenge of improving security culture and accelerating the importance of securing the human layer.”
KnowBe4 Ventures’ portfolio includes US-based cybercrime networks operator Lumu Technologies and email and domain securer EasyDMARC. KnowBe4 also completed an acquisition of security awareness platform SecurityAdvisor for $80m in October 2021.