Area tech firm makes acquisition in Brazil

CLEARWATER — KnowBe4, a cybersecurity training and simulated phishing firm, has acquired El Pescador, a Brazilian company.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

El Pescador will now operate as an independent subsidiary of Clearwater-based KnowBe4, and maintain its brand, according to a statement. El Pescador’s former parent company, Tempest, which purchased El Pescador in 2015, will remain a strategic business partner of KnowBe4, the release adds.

El Pescador's work in education, awareness and simulation of phishing attacks will add to KnowBe4's library of security awareness training content, say KnowBe4 officials. (Pescador means fisherman in Spanish.)

"Our goal is to deliver new content every month to our users with interactive and engaging training modules," KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman says in the release. "This acquisition enables us to deliver new training content, allowing our customers to customize their security awareness programs with the right training at the right time for their organizations. We look forward to working with El Pescador's professionals to help our customers improve the security of their organizations."

Rafael Silva, founder and CEO of El Pescador, says the acquisition will provide the Brazilian company with more investments and the expansion of services, products and functionalities, as well as accelerated growth in the sales of licenses and programs. The company has some 40 employees.

KnowBe4 has $62 million in revenue in 2017, and has more than 300 employees.