On the heels of $4.6B sale, Clearwater cybersecurity firm launches training app

KnowBe4, the Clearwater cybersecurity firm just bought by an Austin, Texas, company for $4.6 billion, has launched an app aimed at getting clients’ employees trained using smart devices.

According to the company, the first-of-its-kind app allows users to complete security awareness and compliance training on the go. Having the functionality available on a mobile device improves user engagement “strengthening your security culture,” it says.

“This new app will enable IT and security teams to improve engagement and completion rates for required training thanks to a seamless user experience,” KnowBe4’s CEO and Chair Stu Sjouwerman says in a statement. “This will also help users to associate security with their personal devices, keeping it top of mind all the time rather than only when they are at work on their computers.” 

The app will be available for free but only people who have a KnowBe4 training platform subscription will be able to get access to it.

KnowBe4 (NASDAQ: KNBE) was founded in 2010. It provides security awareness training and simulated phishing platforms. The company has more than 1,000 employees and is used by more than 52,000 organizations. It went public in 2021.

In early October, Vista Equity Partners, a Texas private equity firm, announced it had reached an agreement to buy KnowBe4.

The all-cash transaction is valued at $4.6 billion, according to an announcement at the time the deal was announced, and shareholders will receive $24.90 per share — 44% higher than the closing price of KnowBe4 stock on Sept. 16, the last full trading day before Vista publicly disclosed its first proposal. 

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

KnowBe4 reported $246.3 million in gross revenue in 2021, up from $174.3 million in 2020, an increase of nearly 41%.

In the October statement announcing KnowBe4 had been bought, Sjouwerman said that “under Vista’s ownership, we will have access to additional resources and support, which will help us achieve our goals and deliver enhanced value to our customers.”