Automated Penetration Testing: Pentera Raises $150M, Eyes Cybersecurity IPO -

Automated penetration testing company Pentera (formerly Pcysys) has raised $150 million in Series C funding led by K1 Investment Management, with participation from Evolution Equity Partners and Insight Partners.

and is preparing to pursue a potential IPO in 2024, Reuters reported.

Pentera's software since at least April 2020 has enabled MSSPs to offer remote network penetration testing and red teaming services.

Pentera is now a software unicorn -- having achieved a $1 billion valuation as a privately held business, the announced indicated. Based in Israel, Pentera generates roughly one-third of its revenue from the United States and the company has 400 enterprise customers worldwide. Actual revenue and EBITDA figures were not disclosed.

On the talent front, Pentera expects to grow from 1500 to 300 employees by the end of 2022, the company said.

Pentera Funding: Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the funding, Pentera CEO Amitai Ratzon said:

“Pentera’s exponential growth has proven that enterprises are no longer willing to compromise for assumptions and simulations, but rather demand real-world validation of their security resilience against the latest cyber attacks. Pentera is excited for the partnership with K1 as they share our vision to achieve category leadership in security validation. We are especially grateful to our employees, customers, partners, and investors for sharing our passion for the revolution we bring to the cybersecurity world.”

Added Christian Grant, senior VP, K1 Investment Management:

“Legacy vulnerability management platforms have given a false sense of security to the market. Given the ever-changing threat landscape, constant and persistent testing is the only way to maintain a truly secure security posture. Pentera is the gold standard in the industry and we are thrilled to partner together for this next phase of growth.”

Concluded Arik Liberzon, co-founder and CTO of Pentera:

“Security teams struggle with prioritizing and dealing with a growing number of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs). Furthermore, legacy vulnerability management approaches often focus on vulnerabilities that have low likelihood of being compromised. Pentera’s agentless platform helps these teams pinpoint their real security gaps. Our customers can finally trust the effectiveness of their cybersecurity stack and prove to their CEOs and boards that they’re secured against cyber attacks.”