According to a Stanford study, 88% of data breaches are caused by human error. With the emergence of AI, security threats have changed dramatically. According to IBM, 83% of companies will face a data breach at least once. When the average data breach can cost a company a bit over $4 million per year, it has led to an ongoing arms race between hackers and corporate cyber security teams.
Reportedly, the cybersecurity industry, which is worth $172 billion, is projected to almost triple in size by 2030. In addition to AI, the introduction of remote work in recent years has put pressure on organisations to increase their security without relying on on-site security measures.
This is where Norwegian cyber security company Pistachio, formerly known as CYBR, comes into the picture. The platform keeps organisations safe in the modern world.
€3.25M funding to launch its platform
Pistachio has just secured €3.25 million in funding from an investor group led by Signals Venture Capital. The company has also launched its AI-driven security training platform to help European corporations eliminate human errors in their battle against cyber security threats.
In addition, to lead investor Signals VC, the investor group is made up of Norwegian pension fund MP Pensjon and all of Pistachio’s existing investors.
With that round, Pistachio has raised €5.4 million. The freshly raised funds will accelerate Pistachio’s growth into new European and North American markets.
“We are extremely happy to welcome our new investors onto the Pistachio journey. Already early on, we realised the tools available for companies to protect themselves were outdated and generic, not really set up to counter modern threats. With our new investors on board and our platform out on the market, we are ready to revolutionise how companies deal with security threats,” said Mohammed Awais, co-founder and CEO of Pistachio.
“We invested in Pistachio because they have proven they have what it takes to be a market leader in an industry that just keeps on growing,” said Christian Weniger, General Partner at Signals VC.. “Their strong position and proven track record in Scandinavia show us they are ready to grow, and we want to help Joe, Awais, and the team conquer Europe, also including Germany.”
AI-driven cybersecurity for modern world
Pistachio was founded by Mohammed Awais Aziz and Joe Jones in 2022 in Oslo, Norway. Pistachio’s platform uses artificial intelligence to assess each employee’s security strengths and weaknesses through various simulated cyber attacks. Once an employee profile has been created, the platform sets up a completely individualized security training program.
The simulated attacks will then continue and only slow down once the individual’s training is at a satisfactory level, helping companies ensure their entire workforce is capable of handling new threats when they arise.
Unlike other security training platform, Pistachio uses a high level of automation and it can be integrated within minutes. This gives companies instant access to the platform rather than going through several months of integration, as is currently the market standard.
Already, Pistachio is an established leader in the Scandinavian cybersecurity industry, having experienced a 325% growth in ARR since the previous year. The company already has over 100 customers in eight European countries. Also, it currently has a team of 26 employees.
