Deal valuing the company at $400 million is led by global private equity investors, including BlackRock and Pamplona Capital Management
WASHINGTON, DC, February 27, 2018 — Paladin Capital Group – a multi-stage investment firm focused on cybersecurity – announced the successful realization of its investment in PhishMe, the industry leader in human-enabled cyber defense solutions, to a syndicate of investors led by BlackRock and Pamplona Capital Management.
With a deal valuing PhishMe at around $400 million, the exit represents the largest in the field of human-enabled cyber defense. PhishMe’s intelligence-driven platform turns employees into an active line of defense by enabling them to identify, report, and mitigate spear-phishing, malware, and drive-by threats. Fueled in part by Paladin’s early investments, PhishMe pioneered the field of training employees to avoid devastating spear-phishing attacks, a common attack vector for hackers.
Christopher Steed, a Managing Director at Paladin Capital Group, commented, “On behalf of Paladin, I want to thank the outstanding PhishMe team for their hard work in building a great company serving their clients, employees, and stakeholders. PhishMe has always been an innovator in the category and I am confident that they will continue to be a market leader and help organizations empower their users to be an active line of cyber defense.”
“We’re proud of the guidance and support we were able to provide PhishMe and are absolutely thrilled with the outcome for the Company and for our investors” said Michael R. Steed, Founder and Managing Partner of Paladin Capital Group. “PhishMe’s successful exit showcases the importance of enabling human-driven phishing defense solutions, providing further validation of Paladin’s approach to cyber investing.”
Paladin originally led PhishMe’s Series A financing in July 2012 when the company had only 14 employees. Paladin went on to lead both the Series B and Series C investments in the Company. PhishMe raised over $58 million in financing from Paladin, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Aldrich Capital Partners. It has since grown to over 400 employees and is trusted by almost half of the Fortune 100.
As part of the acquisition, PhishMe rebranded as Cofense to reflect the full breadth of its portfolio of cyber security solutions for its 1,700+ enterprise, mid-market, and government customers. Cofense will continue to serve the defense industrial base, energy, financial services, healthcare and manufacturing industries, as well as other Global 1000 entities across the globe.
About Paladin Capital Group
Paladin Capital Group was founded in 2001 and has offices in Washington DC, New York, Silicon Valley, London, and Luxembourg. As a multi-stage investor, Paladin focuses on best-of-breed companies with technologies, products, and services that meet the challenging global cyber security and digital infrastructure resilience needs for commercial and government customers. Paladin has over $1 billion in committed capital across multiple funds. Follow the firm on Twitter @Paladincap, visit their website at www.paladincapgroup.com