Israeli startup Pcysys, which developed an automated penetration testing system that provides comprehensive breach security for organizations, announced on Wednesday a $25 million Series B funding round. The investment was led by Insight Partners, along with existing investors, AWZ Ventures, and U.S.-based Blackstone Group.
“COVID accelerated the funding round”
Pcysys, which is an acronym for Proactive Cyber Systems, developed technology that creates a kind of a ‘virtual hacker’ based on actual hacker capabilities, with the purpose of breaching an organization’s network without compromising data security. The penetration tests include exposing weaknesses and potential breach points, as well as highlighting weak passwords and authorization testing.
Following penetration testing, the system produces insight, pointing out security risks and failures, so organizations can fix them and improve their cyber-security defenses. The platform prioritizes risks and enables organizations the ability to focus on their most critical vulnerabilities, alleviating the responsibility of safeguarding against the thousands of non-critical attacks. According to the company, its penetration testing system is agentless and not simulated, but an actual real-life breach.
The company further explains that in addition to organizations that have implemented the platform directly into their networks, MSSPs use the PenTera system to perform remote penetration testing for their customers (PT-as-a-Service). Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Pcysys’s solution has seen a significant rise in demand due to its remote security capabilities.
CEO Amitai Ratzon tells Geektime that the company has experienced growth since its 2019 funding round: “Next to the continuous development of penetration testing technologies, we expanded our product’s capabilities for large organizations with multiple sites.”
We asked him how the Coronavirus impacted company operations, to which he replied that the virus outbreak created a need for remote cyber-security capabilities. Ratzon adds that the pandemic accelerated the development of remote penetration testing technologies by utilizing the cloud.
“One of the sectors which we saw the most growth since the outbreak has been the health sector, which increased demand for cyber-security in hospitals, research centers, and medtech companies,” notes Ratzon. According to Ratzon, the COVID crisis hadn’t hurt the company’s recent fundraising efforts, but quite the opposite: “COVID accelerated the funding round after it became obvious that the demand for Pcysys’ solutions was on the rise, with remote capabilities being the deal closer.”
Pcysys was founded in 2015 by CTO Arik Liberzon and Arik Faingold and currently employs a team of 60 people, with 40 of them working from the Israeli offices, and the rest in Boston and London. The company has raised $40 million to-date and intends on using the latest round’s incoming funds to continue research and development, recruit talent, and expand marketing and sales operations.
