Global Founders Capital joins the Cologne start-up SoSafe. Above all, the founders want to expand their customer base in the EU area.
Cash injection for SoSafe: The Cologne-based provider of cyber security training is getting a well-known investor on board with Global Counters Capital (GFC). So far, the start-up had financed exclusively from sales and personal venture capital. Concerning the amount of the sum was concealed, said co-founder Lukas Schaefer on demand of WirtschaftsWoche founder.
However, what should happen with the money, is no secret: “The capital should be invested primarily in the further development of the product and marketing, sales flow to expand the customer base in the EU,” said Lukas Schaefer. In doing so, the broad access to numerous new client companies is to be used, which GFC offers through its portfolio as well as its investor base. Also, the hiring of new colleagues, especially in the field of business development and marketing, is planned. The team currently has 20 employees.
A “human firewall”
SoSafe was founded in early 2018 by the psychologist and former Boston Consulting Group employee Niklas Hellemann, specialist in computer science Felix Schürholz and economics and business economist and former McKinsey employee Lukas Schaefer. The start-up deals with the problem of cyber-attacks to train and train employees of organizations to effectively improve their IT security skills.
“It’s estimated that more than 90 percent of all successful hacks on businesses are starting with phishing mail. Technical barriers such as spam filters or firewalls are often overwhelmed by these specific attacks, “explains Lukas Schaefer. That’s why SoSafe wants to help its customers develop a “human firewall”. “Our training platform, therefore, involves employees and trains them through phishing simulations and interactive, video-based e-learning modules on an ongoing basis – quite simply, while working.” This involves both detecting and phishing mail the correct handling of passwords and the safe acting in social networks.
Customers from the different sectors
SoSafe addresses itself with its offer at organizations of all sizes and from different sectors – large corporations, medium-sized enterprises and small enterprises as well as organizations of the critical infrastructure (KRITIS) count according to own data to the customers of the Cologne security supplier, among them the Mediamarkt Saturn-Holding Ceconomy, Cologne / Bonn Airport and a parliamentary group.