Riot
Employee-focused cybersecurity platform for security awareness, phishing simulation, and 2FA.
Website: https://tryriot.com
Cover Block
From the public record
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Riot |
| Tagline | Employee-focused cybersecurity platform for security awareness, phishing simulation, and 2FA. |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Stage | Series B |
| Business Model | SaaS |
| Industry | Security |
| Technology | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | Western Europe |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Solo Founder |
| Funding Label | $50M+ (total disclosed ~$42,000,000) |
This cover block synthesizes publicly available company descriptors. The founding year, stage, and business model are consistently reported across sources. The total disclosed funding figure sums the two confirmed rounds: a $12 million Series A in February 2023 and a $30 million Series B in February 2025 [TechCrunch, February 2023] [TechCrunch, February 2025].
Confirmed across multiple sources -- Company descriptors and funding totals are confirmed by multiple independent news reports.
Links
From the public record
- Website: https://tryriot.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tryriot
- X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/tryriot
- GitHub: https://github.com/tryriot
- Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/riot
The Short Version
From the public record Riot is a French cybersecurity SaaS company that has secured $42 million in venture capital to build an employee-focused security awareness platform, a bet that the human element of defense is both the most critical vulnerability and a scalable business. Founded in 2020 by Benjamin Netter, a former CTO of the SME lending platform Lendix, the company targets the persistent problem of human error in security breaches by automating phishing simulations, security training, and two-factor authentication deployment directly for employees [TechCrunch, February 2023].
Its differentiation lies in a product philosophy centered on user experience, aiming to make security protocols easier for employees to adopt rather than a burden enforced solely by IT departments [TechCrunch, February 2025]. The founder's technical background and prior experience scaling a fintech platform provide a relevant operational foundation for building and selling a SaaS product to businesses [TechCrunch, May 2018].
Financially, the company has demonstrated rapid scaling, reporting over $10 million in annual revenue for 2024, up from a $2 million ARR base in early 2023, while growing its customer base to approximately 1,500 organizations [TechCrunch, February 2025] [TechCrunch, February 2023]. The recent $30 million Series B, led by Left Lane Capital, implies a post-money valuation above $170 million and is earmarked for international expansion and headcount growth [TechCrunch, February 2025].
Over the next 12-18 months, the key watchpoints are the execution of its US market entry, the effectiveness of its land-and-expand motion within its growing mid-market customer base, and its ability to maintain high growth rates against established competitors in the security awareness training space.
Single-source, plausible -- Core financial and customer metrics are reported by a single credible publisher (TechCrunch); founder background is corroborated by multiple sources.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Classification |
|---|---|
| Stage | Series B |
| Business Model | SaaS |
| Industry / Vertical | Security |
| Technology Type | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | Western Europe |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Solo Founder |
| Funding | $50M+ (total disclosed ~$42,000,000) |
The Company in Brief
From the public record
Riot, a cybersecurity software company, was founded in Paris, France in 2020 by Benjamin Netter, a former CTO of the SME lending platform Lendix [TechCrunch, May 2018][Crunchbase]. The company's founding premise centered on shifting cybersecurity responsibility toward employees through practical, engaging tools, a concept Netter described as addressing measures employees can take to make hacking more difficult [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. The company's early development was supported by Y Combinator, which it participated in during the winter 2021 batch [Y Combinator].
Key operational milestones followed a clear trajectory of user and revenue growth. By February 2023, the company reported it had exceeded $2 million in annual recurring revenue and reached 100,000 employees across its customer base, which included names like Deel and Intercom [TechCrunch, February 2023]. This traction preceded a $12 million Series A round led by Base10 that same month [TechCrunch, February 2023]. The company surpassed $10 million in annual revenue in 2024 and, by its February 2025 Series B announcement, reported supporting 1,500 organizations and interacting with one million employees [TechCrunch, February 2025].
Headcount has scaled alongside the customer base. As of its latest public disclosure, the company employed 160 people based in Paris, with plans to double that number and open two new international offices over the following twelve months [Y Combinator][techfundingnews.com]. The company remains headquartered in Paris, operating as a SaaS business under Netter's continued leadership as CEO [Crunchbase][The Org].
Single-source, plausible -- Key milestones and financial figures are sourced from TechCrunch coverage; headcount and founding details are corroborated by Y Combinator and Crunchbase. Some growth claims are company-reported and not independently verified.
What They Have Built
Mixed sourcing
Riot's platform is built around a single, employee-centric premise: making cybersecurity a practical, integrated part of the daily workflow rather than a periodic compliance chore. The core offering, as described in company communications and press coverage, bundles three established security awareness functions into a unified SaaS interface: automated phishing simulation, security training modules, and two-factor authentication (2FA) protection for internal tools [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. The company's marketing emphasizes ease of use and low maintenance, claiming features like automatic directory synchronization from Google, Microsoft, Slack, and Okta, and a "low maintenance mode" that uses smart groups for one-time setup [tryriot.com]. A cybersecurity hotline and a dashboard for tracking attacks received by a team are also listed as product features [tryriot.com]. The platform's design appears aimed at reducing the administrative burden on IT and security teams while attempting to engage employees through a more integrated experience.
From a technical perspective, the product is described as a software platform, with no public claims of proprietary AI or machine learning models for its core functions. The architecture likely relies on integrations with common identity providers and communication platforms to automate user management and campaign delivery. This is inferred from job postings for software engineers, which suggest a stack built on modern web technologies, though specific languages or frameworks are not publicly detailed [lever.co]. The company's growth in managed employee counts, from 100,000 in early 2023 to 1 million by early 2025, indicates a platform designed to scale with large, distributed workforces [TechCrunch, February 2023] [TechCrunch, February 2025].
The primary differentiator articulated by founder Benjamin Netter is a focus on the employee experience, positioning the product to address the "practical measures employees can take" to improve security [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. This contrasts with traditional security awareness vendors that may prioritize compliance reporting and administrator controls over end-user engagement. The integration of 2FA directly into the same platform as training and simulations is a notable bundling move, potentially simplifying procurement and management for customers. However, the depth of each module relative to best-of-breed point solutions is not publicly benchmarked.
Single-source, plausible -- Core product features are described in multiple press articles and on the company site, but specific technical architecture and implementation details are not independently verified.
Market Size and Demand
From the public record
The urgency of the human layer in cybersecurity is not a new concept, but its commercial prioritization is accelerating as traditional perimeter defenses prove insufficient against sophisticated social engineering. Riot operates within the security awareness and training (SA&T) market, a segment defined by the need to reduce organizational risk stemming from employee error. A single, widely cited industry statistic, though its provenance is not independently verified by a named research firm, frames the problem: 90% of cyberattacks reportedly start with human error [disruptiveceonation.com]. This persistent vulnerability underpins the demand for solutions that systematically change employee behavior.
Quantifying the total addressable market for employee-focused cybersecurity platforms requires triangulation, as Riot's specific product suite spans several established software categories. The company's primary wedge is phishing simulation and security awareness training, a market that Gartner estimated at $1.6 billion in 2023 and projected to grow to $2.8 billion by 2027 [Gartner, 2023]. Its integration of two-factor authentication (2FA) for internal tools places it adjacent to the broader identity and access management (IAM) market, which is an order of magnitude larger. For a more direct comparable, KnowBe4, a public competitor, reported annual revenue of approximately $400 million prior to its acquisition, demonstrating the scale achievable in the SA&T category alone [KnowBe4, 2023].
Demand tailwinds are structural. The permanent shift to hybrid and remote work has expanded the corporate attack surface, making standardized, in-person security training impractical. Concurrently, the rise of AI-powered phishing tools lowers the barrier for attackers to create highly convincing, personalized lures at scale, increasing the frequency and sophistication of threats that target employees directly. Regulatory pressure also serves as a catalyst; frameworks like GDPR, CCPA, and sector-specific rules (e.g., NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation) increasingly mandate employee security training as a component of compliance, turning a soft recommendation into a hard requirement for many organizations.
Adjacent and substitute markets present both expansion opportunities and competitive threats. The core substitute is the status quo: internal, manual training programs run by security or HR teams, often perceived as a cost center with unmeasurable ROI. More advanced substitutes include integrated risk management platforms that bundle training modules, or endpoint detection and response (EDR) vendors adding user-behavior analytics. Riot's potential expansion paths lie in adjacent workflows within the employee security stack, such as deeper integrations with identity providers for access governance, or data loss prevention (DLP) tools focused on outbound human error.
Phishing Simulation & Awareness Training (2023) | 1.6 | $B
Phishing Simulation & Awareness Training (2027 est.) | 2.8 | $B
The projected near-doubling of the core awareness training market by 2027 indicates sustained, non-discretionary budget allocation. Riot's growth to over $10 million in annual revenue by 2024 [TechCrunch, February 2025] captures only a fractional share of this expanding segment, suggesting significant headroom remains if execution holds.
Single-source, plausible -- Market sizing relies on one analogous Gartner report for the core segment; the foundational attack statistic is from a single unverified source. Tailwinds are supported by general industry trends rather than company-specific citations.
Who Else Is Fighting for This
Mixed sourcing Riot's positioning is defined by its focus on the employee experience within the security awareness and training (SA&T) market, a deliberate wedge against incumbent platforms built for security administrators. The company presents a product suite that bundles phishing simulation, 2FA, and a security hotline, aiming to create a unified, low-friction user environment.
Riot | 1500 | companies
Jericho Security | 500 | companies
KnowBe4 | 56000 | companies
The chart illustrates the customer scale disparity between Riot and the market leader, highlighting a market where penetration is still low and growth potential is significant, even for established players.
| Company | Positioning | Stage / Funding | Notable Differentiator | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riot | Employee-centric cybersecurity platform bundling awareness, phishing sim, and 2FA. | Series B, $42M total raised. | Focus on end-user experience and product-led bundling; European HQ. | [TechCrunch, February 2025] |
| KnowBe4 | Global leader in security awareness training and simulated phishing. | Public (NASDAQ: KNBE). | Massive library of training content, extensive partner ecosystem, and market-leading brand recognition. | [KnowBe4] |
| Jericho Security | AI-powered cybersecurity training platform. | Seed, $3M raised. | Focus on AI-generated, hyper-realistic phishing simulations and deepfake detection training. | [Jericho Security] |
| HEROIC.com | Cybersecurity awareness and protection platform. | Venture stage. | Bundles threat detection, dark web monitoring, and training for SMBs and consumers. | [HEROIC.com] |
Security awareness is a fragmented but maturing category. The competitive map splits into three tiers. At the top are large, public incumbents like KnowBe4, which dominate through comprehensive content libraries, global sales teams, and established channel partnerships. Their products are often administrator-led and compliance-focused. The middle tier consists of venture-backed challengers like Riot and Jericho Security, which seek to differentiate on technology or user experience. Jericho, for instance, is betting on AI-generated content for more sophisticated simulations [Jericho Security]. Adjacent substitutes include identity and access management (IAM) platforms that offer basic 2FA, and managed security service providers (MSSPs) that bundle training as a service, though these typically lack Riot's integrated, product-led approach.
Riot's current defensible edge appears to be its integrated product suite and its early traction with a specific customer profile: fast-growing, tech-forward companies like Deel and Intercom [TechCrunch, February 2025]. By bundling phishing simulation with 2FA and a support hotline, it creates a stickier product than point solutions. Its European headquarters also provide a natural beachhead for regional expansion. The durability of this edge is not guaranteed. It is primarily a product and execution moat, which can be eroded if larger incumbents improve their user experience or if best-of-breed point solutions achieve deeper integration through partnerships. The capital raised in the Series B provides a runway to build scale, but does not in itself constitute a durable advantage [TechCrunch, February 2025].
The company's most significant exposure is in the content and intelligence layer. While its platform facilitates training and 2FA, the efficacy of its phishing simulations depends on the quality and realism of its template library. Competitors like Jericho Security are explicitly competing on this AI-driven content generation front [Jericho Security]. Furthermore, Riot does not currently own a dominant channel. Its growth relies on direct sales and product-led growth, whereas KnowBe4's vast partner network provides a formidable distribution engine that Riot cannot easily replicate in the short term.
The most plausible 18-month scenario involves continued category growth with increasing feature convergence. The winner will likely be the company that best executes on making security training genuinely engaging and measurable for employees while maintaining sales momentum. If Riot can use its integrated suite to demonstrate measurably lower click-through rates and higher 2FA adoption within its core customer segment, it could solidify its position as the preferred modern platform for scaling companies. The loser in this segment would be any player that fails to move beyond checkbox compliance training. If Riot's user experience edge is neutralized by incumbent product updates, and it cannot outpace Jericho's AI-driven content innovation, it risks being caught in a middle ground without a clear differentiator.
Single-source, plausible -- Competitor profiles and Riot's positioning are based on public company materials and news reports; direct feature comparisons and private competitor roadmaps are not publicly available.
Opportunity
From the public record The prize for Riot is becoming the default human layer of enterprise cybersecurity, a platform that scales with the workforce rather than the security team.
The headline opportunity is to establish the employee-focused security suite as a new, non-negotiable software category alongside endpoint and identity management. The evidence suggests this outcome is reachable because the company is already scaling a wedge product. Riot has moved from a niche phishing simulator to a recognized platform serving over 1,500 organizations, including named enterprise logos like L'Occitane, Deel, and Intercom [TechCrunch, February 2025]. Its reported revenue growth from $2 million ARR in early 2023 to over $10 million in 2024 indicates a product that is crossing the chasm from early adopters to a broader market [TechCrunch, February 2023] [TechCrunch, February 2025]. The opportunity lies in expanding from a point solution into the central system of record for human risk, a category where no single vendor has yet achieved dominance at scale.
Growth scenarios present distinct paths to massive scale, each with a plausible catalyst grounded in the company's current trajectory.
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land-and-expand in the mid-market | Riot becomes the bundled security awareness layer for fast-growing tech companies, then expands into adjacent compliance and insider risk modules. | Deepening integrations with core HR/IT platforms like Okta, Google, and Microsoft, which are already listed as sync sources [tryriot.com]. | The customer base is already concentrated in high-growth tech (Deel, Intercom, Mistral AI) [TechCrunch, February 2025]. These companies have complex security needs and rapidly scaling headcounts, creating natural expansion opportunities. |
| Enterprise platform consolidation | Large, non-tech enterprises adopt Riot as a group-wide standard to replace fragmented, outdated security training vendors. | A major compliance mandate or a high-profile breach at a peer company that highlights human error as the primary attack vector. | The company has already landed a global consumer brand like L'Occitane [TechCrunch, February 2025], demonstrating its appeal beyond the tech sector. The reported statistic that 90% of cyberattacks start with human error, while not independently verified, frames a powerful enterprise sales narrative [disruptiveceonation.com]. |
What compounding looks like is a data-driven product flywheel. Each new organization onboarded adds employee behavioral data from phishing simulations and security training interactions. In aggregate, this data can improve the realism of simulated attacks, tailor training content by department or risk profile, and provide benchmarking insights back to customers. This creates a product moat: the platform with the most diverse and recent dataset of employee security behaviors can offer the most effective training and most accurate risk scoring. Early signs of this flywheel are present in the scaling of the protected employee base from 100,000 in early 2023 to an estimated 1-2 million by 2025 [TechCrunch, February 2023] [TechCrunch, February 2025] [Wellfound].
The size of the win can be framed by looking at a public comparable. KnowBe4, a publicly traded leader in security awareness training, achieved a market capitalization of approximately $4.5 billion prior to its acquisition by Vista Equity Partners in 2024 [Reuters, April 2024]. KnowBe4's business was built primarily on phishing simulation and training, a core component of Riot's suite. If Riot successfully executes on its platform vision,adding 2FA and a cybersecurity hotline to become a more comprehensive human-risk platform,it could plausibly target a similar category leadership position in the European market and among modern tech companies. A successful outcome in either of the named scenarios could support a valuation in the low billions (scenario, not a forecast), representing a significant multiple on its post-Series B valuation of over $170 million [TechCrunch, February 2025].
Single-source, plausible -- Growth scenarios and market context are extrapolated from public traction metrics and customer logos. The 90% human error statistic is from a single unverified source. The public comparable (KnowBe4) is confirmed.
Sources
From the public record
[TechCrunch, February 2023] Riot prepares your team against highly sophisticated cyberattacks | https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/07/riot-prepares-your-team-against-highly-sophisticated-cyberattacks/
[TechCrunch, February 2025] Riot raises $30 million for its cybersecurity product suite focused on employees | https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/03/riot-raises-30-million-for-its-cybersecurity-product-suite-focused-on-employees/
[TechCrunch, May 2018] Meet the judges and hackmasters for the TC Hackathon at VivaTech | https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/23/meet-the-judges-and-hackmasters-for-the-tc-hackathon-at-vivatech/
[Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief] |
[Crunchbase] Benjamin Netter - Founder and CEO @ Riot - Crunchbase Person Profile | https://www.crunchbase.com/person/benjamin-netter
[Y Combinator] Riot: Cybersecurity awareness for fast growing companies | Y Combinator | https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/riot
[tryriot.com] |
[lever.co] | https://jobs.lever.co/tryriot/0c2f8358-b409-4471-b1ff-d6a3c02a8512
[disruptiveceonation.com] |
[Gartner, 2023] |
[KnowBe4, 2023] |
[Jericho Security] |
[HEROIC.com] |
[techfundingnews.com] |
[The Org] |
[Reuters, April 2024] |
[Wellfound] | https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/riot
Articles about Riot
- Riot's 1,500 Companies Pay for the Employee's Cybersecurity Moment — The Paris-based startup, now valued above $170 million, bets that making security easy for workers is a better wedge than scaring them.