By 2022, there will be 1.8 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally.
To help professionals close the gap on cybersecurity skills, Bristol, U.K.-based startup Immersive Labs raised $40 million in funding led by global growth equity investor Summit Partners, with participation from existing investor Goldman Sachs.
The startup claims it has created the world’s first fully interactive, on-demand and gamified cyber skills platform that trains tech professionals in much-needed cyber skills.
The three-year-old company, which has its U.S. headquarters in Boston, will direct the funds towards bolstering expansion plans in North America. Founded by former U.K. government communications headquarters cybersecurity instructor James Hadley, the startup counts British Telecom, Bank of Montreal, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, the U.K. National Health Service and London’s Metropolitan Police among its clients.
The cybersecurity skills platform's simulations allow users to step into real-world cybersecurity situations based on cyber threat simulations that incorporate real-world attack techniques and both emerging and zero-day threats. Users learn to identify and navigate phishing attacks and to reverse-engineer malware.
Organizations can use this user data to evaluate their employees' skill level and existing capabilities to tackle and address security risks.
Immersive Labs’ funding comes at a time when cyberattacks are more sophisticated, yet there still exists a yawning skill gap. According to the 2019 ISC2 Cyber Security Workforce Study, while there are some 2.8 million cybersecurity workers globally, there is an additional need for 4 million trained workers to be able to close the gap.
“Gaps in cybersecurity knowledge meaningfully increase the risk to an organization, creating vulnerability and presenting an opportunity for attackers," Immersive Labs CEO James Hadley said in a statement. "The rapid, constantly evolving threat landscape has made traditional classroom training for cyber skills obsolete."
