Israeli cybersecurity firm Pentera has raised $150 million in its latest funding round — led by K1 Investment Management.
Pentera, formerly known as Pcysys, plans to use the capital to double its engineer team and expand into new markets including the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America. One third of its customers are currently based in the United States.
It also marks a jump in valuation after its last funding round. Led by Insight Partners, Pentera raised $25 million from investors in September 2020, valuing the company at about $175 million, according to data platform PitchBook.
Founded by Arik Liberzon, Arik Faingold, and a group of former cybersecurity researchers at the Israel Defense Forces, Pentera allows security workers to test its network vulnerability from the hacker’s perspective.
Its automated penetration testing technology has been used by over 400 enterprise customers globally, including Blackstone.
Ransomware attacks increased by 151 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2021 and hackers are set to become more aggressive, according to a report issued by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security last month.
