Hack The Box, the world鈥檚 largest hacking community, has raised 拢45m ($55m) in Series B funding led by the Carlyle Group.
The international cyber security training firm, which was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Kent, has 1.7 million members听and has grown by听200 per cent in the last year.
The Series B investment round of 拢45m was led by Carlyle, alongside Paladin Capital Group, Osage University Partners, Marathon Venture Capital, Brighteye Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst Fund.
The new investment听will accelerate Hack The Box鈥檚 growth aspirations with a focus on further building out its category-defining 鈥榞amer-first鈥� solutions offering.
The business will also enhance its go-to-market function, doubling down on the company鈥檚 ongoing international expansion with strong commercial traction in the US, Europe and APAC.
Haris Pylarinos, founder and CEO at Hack The Box, said: 听鈥淥ur mission is to create and connect cyber-ready humans and organizations through highly engaging hacking experiences that cultivate out-of-the-box thinking.
鈥淭he game in cyber has changed with defensive, reactive and recovery postures not being fit-for-purpose in the face of an ever-increasing and ever-evolving wave of sophisticated attacks.
鈥淎 new proactive offensive and defensive approach is needed to take the fight to cybercriminals rather than waiting to be hit. From individual security professionals to companies, this means adopting a 鈥榟acker mindset鈥�, learning to think and act like an attacker. This is the kind of mindset that we cultivate through Hack The Box.鈥�
Hack The Box has continued to attract investor interest due to its highly engaging adversarial cyber up- and reskilling solutions that are powered by ultra-realistic coding gameplay and thereby effectively advance the security readiness of Hack The Box鈥檚 rising number of blue-chip enterprise and government customers.
Following the investment Hack The Box will continue to invest heavily in R&D.
Hack The Box offers a 360掳听platform that not only enables individuals, businesses, government institutions and universities to level up their offensive and defensive security skills, but also provides access to job opportunities in cybersecurity, thus addressing the industry鈥檚 serious talent shortage.
Constantin Boye, a Director at Carlyle, said:听鈥淭he demands on security and IT professionals have never been greater. An industry-wide talent shortage and an exponentially growing number of cyber threats place great importance on professionals and organisations to maintain best-in-class security practices.
鈥淗ack The Box is a pioneer in constantly providing fresh and curated training and upskilling content, in a fully gamified and intuitive environment, enabling individuals and organizations to tackle real-world hacking problems. We are excited for the next stage of Hack The Box鈥檚 evolution and are proud to be part of this journey.鈥�
The latest Series B funding takes Hack The Box鈥檚 total amount of capital raised to date to 拢57m ($70m), reinforcing the company鈥檚 position within the global cybersecurity ecosystem.