In today’s digital landscape, organizations face ever-increasing cyber threats. Cybersecurity professionals require up-to-date skills and hands-on training to combat these threats. In this blog post, we look deeper into how our portfolio company RangeForce revolutionizes cybersecurity training.
Cybersecurity Simulations and Skills Analysis Platform
RangeForce offers an integrated cybersecurity simulation and skills analysis platform that aims to bridge the skills gap in the industry and empower defenders against cyber threats. They do this by addressing the skills gap, cybersecurity tutorials and resources, interactive and gamified learning, and assessing the skills and progress.
RangeForce understands the pressing need to address the skills gap in cybersecurity. The company has launched the Defense Readiness Index, a total score that enables organizations to measure their readiness against cyber threats. This innovative index, the first of its kind, helps businesses identify their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to prioritize training efforts. By focusing on upskilling defenders, RangeForce aims to equip organizations with the necessary capabilities to defend against cyber threats effectively.
RangeForce goes beyond providing a training platform by offering tutorials and resources to help organizations understand crucial concepts. These resources ensure that learners comprehensively understand essential cybersecurity topics, empowering them to tackle real-world challenges effectively.
RangeForce’s training modules are interactive and gamified to engage learners and ensure effective knowledge retention. This approach creates an engaging learning experience, increasing learner motivation and making training more enjoyable. By making training interactive and game-like, RangeForce creates an environment that encourages active participation and fosters skill development.
RangeForce understands the importance of measuring learners’ skills and progress. By providing a skills analysis platform, the company enables organizations to track their employees’ development and identify areas for improvement. This data-driven approach ensures that training efforts are targeted and tailored to the specific needs of learners. It also allows organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of their cybersecurity training initiatives.
How RangeForce Got Started
RangeForce was founded by Taavi Must, Margus Ernits, and Jaanus Kink, who initially collaborated on a project for NATO (CCDCOE). Margus, a seasoned cybersecurity expert, recognized the significance of creating a practical training environment for cyber defenders. He drew inspiration from flight simulators for pilot training and aimed to simulate real-world attacks, where defenders could utilize their security tools in an operational setting. However, Margus realized that the resources available to NATO were not feasible for universities or businesses due to the high costs and the scarcity of well-trained and highly skilled cyber experts.
He devised an integrated training and cyber range solution to address these challenges. He developed initial attack scenarios and training modules, which he tested during a student competition.
Impressed by the positive results, Margus reached out to Taavi and Jaanus with his preliminary architecture and a vision for a next-generation training solution. Together, they embarked on the development of RangeForce.
RangeForce and Trind
Trind first invested in RangeForce in 2019 in their seed round of $3 million together with Paladin Capital. The round was followed by a $15 million Series A in 2022 by Trind, Paladin Capital, Energy Impact Partners, and Cisco Investments, and this spring, the company announced a Series B of $20 million.
We are proud of the long way the team has come since our first investment in 2019. Considering how important topic cyber security is today and even more so in the future, we see the work done by RangeForce as very important and see that there is more to come from the team.
Ivar Siimar, Partner at Trind