CyberRisk Alliance (“CRA”), a business intelligence company serving the cybersecurity and information risk management marketplace, has acquired Cybersecurity Collaborative, a peer council platform for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and other senior-level security executives from Stuart Cohen, the company’s founder and CEO. Stuart will continue to lead the business as its chief executive.
Cybersecurity Collaborative is a private, member-only peer council that facilitates collaboration among the senior most security leaders of large corporations, government agencies and municipalities, healthcare institutions, academia and non-profit organizations. The company was organized in December 2017 by a group of industry leading CISOs seeking a private, secure environment to share skills, knowledge and experiences on security and IT challenges. By leveraging the platform, member CISOs strengthen the security readiness and defense of their respective organizations, as well as help expand the knowledge of the broader cybersecurity community. The company plans to introduce a new membership council for small-to-medium-businesses and non-profit organizations with small IT teams and limited resources. This new membership platform was validated though extensive research and a successful beta program. It will provide its membership with timely content, guidance and access to seasoned security and IT professionals, among other services.
Further elucidating the many benefits of being part of the Cybersecurity Collaborative community, members gain access to a confidential member-only portal for peer networking and collaboration; daily security report and critical updates; CISO-led SWAT teams and peer task forces; and a content library with a searchable database of proven policies and guides written by the foremost authorities and practitioners. The company also hosts regional meetings for existing and prospective members.
The transaction represents another acquisition in a rapid series of investments by CyberRisk Alliance as it continues to execute its aggressive strategy to serve the cybersecurity and information risk management marketplace with a unique and diverse portfolio of business intelligence services comprised of market-leading brands.
CyberRisk Alliance has quickly established itself among the top business intelligence resources to this vitally important community. Earlier this month the company announced the acquisition of SC Media, building on a succession of acquisitions that began with Infosec World Conference and Expo in February of this year. In April, CRA completed an investment in the CyberSecurity Collaboration Forum, a series of regional invitation-only events, founded by Bob Dethlefs and based in Portland, Oregon. As part of that arrangement, Dethlefs, who also founded Evanta in 2003, joined CRA’s board as its chairman.
“Cybersecurity Collaborative represents another key investment and an essential component of our platform strategy to serve this fast-growing industry with strong resource demands,” said CyberRisk Alliance CEO and founder, Doug Manoni. “We’re privileged to partner with Stuart Cohen and his team with their deep understanding of the community and their ability to support this exclusive and valued service to the community. We’re eager to work with Stuart and build on his impressive accomplishments by adding additional capabilities to the membership offering and expanding into new market segments.”
Stuart Cohen, chief executive officer of Cybersecurity Collaborative, added: “We are excited to join the CyberRisk Alliance portfolio of companies. This merger will significantly enhance the current benefits of our confidential peer collaboration with access to an enhanced service offering, solely focused on CISOs and their security teams, with a mission of strengthening member organizations and making them safer.”
“We must harness the combined insights, expertise, and best practices across the Fortune 500 CISO community to truly achieve maximum security readiness. This merger increases the collective knowledge available to business, government, education, and healthcare leaders and has an immediate impact on our ability to mitigate risk and reduce cyberattacks,” said CyberRisk Alliance chairman Bob Dethlefs. “Stuart Cohen pioneered peer-to-peer CISO collaboration and helped drive the open-source movement to where it is today. He is an industry legend, and we’re fortunate to have him join our team.”
“Cybersecurity Collaborative enriches CRA’s valuable service offering to CISOs and their teams, and we’re excited about our strategy to invest in the accelerated development of the business.” said Scott Peters, co-founder of Growth Catalyst Partners, the equity firm partnering with Manoni on the launch of CyberRisk Alliance. “It’s great to bring Stuart back into partnership with Bob Dethlefs, having witnessed firsthand their success with Evanta.”
About Cybersecurity Collaborative
Cybersecurity Collaborative is the only private, secure and confidential cross-industry network of CISOs and security executives dedicated to peer collaboration. This forum provides a safe environment to share skills, knowledge and experiences on security and IT challenges with the primary objective of strengthening the security readiness and defense of each member organization, and the knowledge of the cybersecurity community at large. For more information, visit www.cyberleadersunite.com.
About CyberRisk Alliance
CyberRisk Alliance is a business intelligence company founded through a partnership between Doug Manoni and Growth Catalyst Partners in November 2018, and created to serve the high-growth, rapidly evolving cybersecurity and information risk management marketplace. The company is comprised of a diversified portfolio of business information products and services with a shared mission of informing, educating and training business professionals, while building community and facilitating industry commerce. The company is pursuing an aggressive growth strategy through a combination of organic product development and a series of highly targeted acquisitions and partnerships – bringing together leading brands – and it is led by a collaborative and highly accomplished team of entrepreneurs, operators and investors. In addition to Cybersecurity Collaborative, the company’s portfolio currently includes SC Media, InfoSec World Conference and Expo, the Security Leadership Exchanges, and CyberSecurity Collaboration Forums. For more information, visit www.cyberriskalliance.com.
About Growth Catalyst Partners
Growth Catalyst Partners (“GCP”) is a lower-middle market private equity firm focused on information, marketing and tech-enabled services businesses. GCP’s strategy involves targeting growth segments of industries and identifying market leading companies with breakout potential. GCP partners with top executives within those industries and provides capital and expertise to the incumbent management teams of the targeted businesses. GCP was founded by veteran private equity investor Jim TenBroek and leading investment banker Scott Peters, who have led hundreds of transactions and successful investments in services businesses for over 20 years. For more information, visit www.growthcatalystpartners.com.