PhishMe Inc., the leading provider of human phishing defense solutions, today announced it has raised $42.5 million in Series C funding led by existing investor Paladin Capital, an established, multi-stage private equity firm that had previously invested in the business. The deal also saw the participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, a $4 billion venture capital firm investing in startups at every stage, in every corner of the globe.

The PhishMe platform is designed to engage all employees in cybersecurity by conditioning behavior to recognize and report malicious phishing emails, thus providing the security teams with critical, real-time attack intelligence. The funds will enable PhishMe to expand its product and intellectual property portfolio by continuing to invest in its research and development teams, and staying on the bleeding edge of innovation. The company will also use the funds to boost its international reach by expanding further into Europe and Asia, building upon its strong channel ecosystem and technology alliances.

'Institutional capital has become more selective for cybersecurity companies over the last three quarters. We are fortunate to have attracted interest from the most highly regarded investment firms in the world. This is testament to our strong business model and the investment community's confidence in our ability to execute and maintain expansive growth for years to come,' said Rohyt Belani, CEO and Co-Founder. 'This strategic funding will put us in a position to drive further innovation in email security and phishing defense strategies, as well as explore inorganic growth opportunities.'

PhishMe now boasts an employee base of more than 250 full-time personnel, dedicated to serving its global customer base in their fight against cybercrime and nation-state actors. The company is trusted by almost half of the Fortune 100 and continues to expand its customer base at a strong pace. This rapid expansion has fueled 100 percent YoY billings growth over the last three years for PhishMe.

'We see enormous potential in a company revolutionizing the way enterprises are dealing with cyber-attacks,' said Christopher Steed, Managing Director at Paladin Capital. 'When we learned PhishMe was raising capital, we decided to increase our investment as a testament of continued growth and strong performance. Phishing attacks are evolving at an alarming rate and businesses are in need of an alternative, more effective way of protecting their assets. Despite the decline in cybersecurity investments in the overall market, we've been thoroughly impressed by the level of innovation coming from the PhishMe team and believe it is setting the benchmark across cyber-security solutions.'

'Despite the growing number of security vendors in the market, we quickly realized the huge potential behind the PhishMe business proposition,' said Alex Ferrara, Partner at Bessemer Venture Capital. 'The most damaging cyber-attacks almost always involve phishing or spear phishing attempts and that is why empowering the human element or employees to detect these phishing campaigns has become a top priority for modern enterprises. We're extremely pleased to have invested in the company and look forward to working alongside the management team and supporting their growth plans.'

For more information on PhishMe enterprise phishing defense solutions, please visit www.phishme.com

PhishMe is the leading provider of human-focused phishing defense solutions for organizations concerned about their susceptibility to today's top attack vector - spear phishing. PhishMe intelligence-driven platform turns employees into an active line of defense by enabling them to identify, report, and mitigate spear phishing, malware, and drive-by threats. Our open approach ensures that PhishMe integrates easily into the security technology stack, demonstrating measurable results to help inform an organization's security decision making process. PhishMe customers include the defense industrial base, energy, financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing industries, as well as other Global 1000 entities that understand changing user security behavior will improve security, aid incident response, and reduce the risk of compromise.