MIAMI — Feb. 10, 2022 — ThriveDX (formerly HackerU), the fastest growing cybersecurity and digital skills workforce development training platform, announced today a significant new investment of $75 million from NightDragon and its affiliates. A dedicated cybersecurity and privacy investment firm, NightDragon joins early strategic partner Prytek (who invested $110 million to date) as the co-lead investor in ThriveDX’s current funding round.
NightDragon’s substantial commitment will support ThriveDX’s continued hyper growth as it accelerates its mission to grow the technology talent pool to fill the 2.7 million open cybersecurity positions and close the broader digital skills gap.
ThriveDX develops and licenses advanced professional development programs and training software in cybersecurity in addition to other fields through partnerships with top-tier academic institutions and corporations worldwide. The Company leverages technology-focused solutions including its proprietary cybersecurity SaaS platform to provide education workforce training programs focused on hands-on skills training in high-demand digital career fields such as cybersecurity, software engineering, and data science and analytics. ThriveDX partners with top universities including New York University and the University of Michigan and Fortune500 companies such as Toyota, Microsoft, Bank of America, PWC, and Intel to re-skill and up-skill the next generation of cybersecurity professionals necessary to protect enterprise and government organizations against current and future cyber threats.
“The NightDragon team has been in the industry for a long time and deeply understands the need to nurture the next generation of cybersecurity defenders. ThriveDX is the first company we have seen to solve this problem in a scalable way and we look forward to applying our own knowledge and expertise to help them grow,” said David DeWalt, Founder and Managing Director of NightDragon.
“Without companies like ThriveDX that help us educate early and often, we don’t stand a chance against attackers today or the threats of tomorrow.”
In addition to bringing NightDragon’s extensive operational and cybersecurity market expertise, DeWalt will be joining ThriveDX’s board of directors. Widely recognized as one of the most successful leaders in the cybersecurity industry, DeWalt brings more than 25 years of experience in the sector, including as the President and CEO of McAfee and as CEO and Executive Chairman of FireEye. He has also served four administrations advising the President on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Council (NSTAC) and sits on numerous influential boards, including Delta Airlines, Five9, Team8, Claroty and more.
“The single biggest threat to industry, to the global economy, is the lack of cybersecurity and digital skills talent in the workforce, especially with cyber attacks impacting every industry at rapid pace and threats becoming even more pervasive,” said Dan Vigdor, Co-founder and Co-CEO at ThriveDX. “With this new round of funding, access to the NightDragon’s incredible and vast network, and David becoming a strategic partner, we are taking a major step toward achieving and accelerating our mission”, added Gil Adani Co-founder and Co-CEO at ThriveDX.
Arnon Shiboleth Co-CEO of Prytek said, “ThriveDX is an important component in the value chain of the Prytek Group — advancing digital transformation through education and tech solutions. We are delighted about the new strategic partnership with NightDragon.”
About ThriveDX
A leader in digital skills training, ThriveDX (formerly HackerU) collaborates with top-tier academic institutions and corporations worldwide to assist its partners in offering cutting-edge, skills based cybersecurity training and advanced, professional development programs in digital technology.
Leveraging 15 years experience in the industry, the Company has built a range of learning solutions in cyber and information security, digital marketing, software engineering, data science, cloud computing,UI/UX and more. Through improving equity in access to high-quality training in the most in-demand digital skills, ThriveDx is committed to impacting the lives of 1 million learners by 2030 and leads the market in growing the digital talent pipeline across the globe.
ThriveDx was founded in 2006 by Gil Adani who has served as CEO of the company since its inception, and Dan Vigdor, who serves as the company’s Executive Chairman. In 2018, the Company extended their business operations in the United States and globally in pursuit of becoming one of the leading international training companies.
About NightDragon
NightDragon is an investment and advisory firm focused on growth and late-stage investments within the cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy industries. Its platform and vast industry network provide unparalleled threat insights, deal flow, market leverage and operating expertise to drive portfolio company growth and increase shareholder value. The NightDragon team has more than 25 years of operational and market expertise and was founded by Dave DeWalt and Ken Gonzalez, who served as senior executives leading technology companies such as Documentum, EMC, Siebel Systems (Oracle), McAfee, Mandiant, Avast and FireEye.
About Prytek
Prytek is a global technology and investment corporation. Founded in 2017 by Igor Rybakov and Andrey Yashunsky, co-managed with Arnon shiboleth, and is chaired by Yair Seroussi. Prytek builds vertical integrated value-chain-solutions for universities and financial institutions, and by that, creates impact across industries. Prytek has rapidly grown into a multinational technology group with a focus on building and investing in technologies and delivering managed services in the Financial Services, Cyber & Tech Education, and HR sectors. Prytek has invested over $400 million in companies and technologies globally, services more than 250 clients and maintains offices in eight locations worldwide. Prytek has experienced a 200% growth over the last year and plans to go public in the medium term.
