Riot Secures $30 Million Investment to Enhance Employee-Centric Cybersecurity Solutions
French startup Riot has successfully secured a substantial $30 million Series B funding round, following its impressive achievement of reaching $10 million in annual revenue by 2024. Initially centered on educating employees about cybersecurity risks, Riot is now expanding its mission to actively encourage employees to reduce their attack surface.
Funding Details and Valuation
The latest funding round is led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from notable investors including Y Combinator, Base10, and FundersClub. Following this Series B round, Riot has achieved a post-money valuation exceeding $170 million.
Innovative Cybersecurity Education Approach
Riot initially launched with a focus on fake phishing campaigns, where employees receive emails designed to mimic genuine communications. This strategy is intended to help employees recognize suspicious emails and be more vigilant about their online interactions.
Over time, Riot has expanded its offerings to include an educational security chatbot named Albert, which is available on platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Current Client Engagement
Riot’s approach has proven effective, with the company now engaging with one million employees across 1,500 companies. Notable clients include:
- L’Occitane
- Deel
- Intercom
- Le Monde
Just two years ago, Riot was only serving 100,000 employees.
Addressing Rising Cyber Incidents
Despite Riot’s success, cyber incidents continue to escalate, significantly impacting organizations. A recent example is the Change Healthcare data breach, which compromised the data of 190 million Americans due to reused credentials.
Expanding Beyond Education
Recognizing the growing need for enhanced employee security, Riot is shifting its focus from solely educating employees to evaluating their cybersecurity posture. As Riot’s founder and CEO Benjamin Netter stated, “Our job is to look at employees’ posture.” Key factors include:
- Activation of multifactor authentication
- Secure codes on smartphones
- Privacy settings on professional networking sites, like LinkedIn
Introducing Employee Security Posture Management
Riot’s upcoming product is dubbed the Employee Security Posture Management platform. This innovative platform aims to serve as a comprehensive cockpit for managing employee-level security. While many posture management solutions exist, Riot believes employees have been overlooked for too long.
According to Netter, the platform will automatically assess employees’ security measures and assign a karma score to indicate their cybersecurity posture.
Encouraging Positive Cyber Hygiene
The platform will provide personalized nudges for employees to enhance their security settings, such as:
- Activating multifactor authentication
- Changing privacy settings
Netter emphasizes that these small adjustments can significantly deter potential hackers.
Future Vision and Growth Plans
Riot aims to develop a user-friendly security product with engaging animations and gamification features to motivate employees to improve their security posture. Netter envisions expanding Riot’s offerings to include tools across the entire employee security stack, potentially branching into antivirus solutions or password management systems in the future.
With the recent funding, Riot is poised for rapid growth, planning to open new offices internationally and expand its client base to support the development of more advanced products.
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