KnowBe4, the Clearwater-based cybersecurity firm that was inching toward unicorn status three months ago, has reached the magic billion dollar valuation.
Private equity firm KKR lead the $300 million dollar investment announced Wednesday, with additional participation from existing investors Elephant and TenEleven Ventures. KKR previously invested $50 million to KnowBe4 in March.
"We built KnowBe4 to serve an important market need and it's very, very gratifying to have reached this milestone as evidence that we're doing what we set out to do," Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4, said in a statement. "The relationship we started with KKR earlier this year has been fruitful for both of us. This new round enables KnowBe4 to continue to focus on helping our clients build a human shield against cyber threats, while also accelerating KnowBe4's roll out in new markets to help more companies around the globe."
Some of those global markets include Brazil, which launched in March, and Norway, which launched earlier this month. The funding will help KnowBe4 with even more international expansion and platform development. The company has a 15-person office in the U.K., five employees in Holland, 15 in Berlin with offices in Dubai, Singapore, Melbourne and Sao Paulo slated to open this year, according to Sjouwerman.
Tampa Bay is slowly but surely creeping into unicorn territory seen in markets like Silicon Valley and Boston. There's Tampa-based ConnectWise, which was previously valued at $1.2 billion and was acquired in February. There's also Tech Data, the Clearwater-based company who most recently reported $36 billion in net sales in January 2018.
Sjouwerman previously told Tampa Bay Inno he plans to stay in the region for its cost efficiency and eventual may sell his company "down the line."
“Being in Tampa’s a very strong competitive advantage,” he said, adding high tech in Tampa is ‘doing great.’ “I’m not going anywhere. I love this. It’s so much fun, we’re just going to build the company. Ultimately maybe down the line, you work on some kind of exit. But for now, we’re gonna expand like crazy.”
