{"id":2854,"date":"2023-06-29T08:57:40","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T08:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/hack-the-bank-how-cybersecurity-startup-hack-the-box-raised-45m-in-a-recession\/"},"modified":"2023-06-29T08:57:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T08:57:40","slug":"hack-the-bank-how-cybersecurity-startup-hack-the-box-raised-45m-in-a-recession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=2854","title":{"rendered":"Hack the Bank: how cybersecurity startup Hack the Box raised \u00a345m in a recession"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Pylarinos attributes this to the company\u2019s humble, bootstrapped beginnings. Despite having now successfully completed three funding rounds (raising a total of $70m) starting out with just a small amount of savings has meant the founders have prioritised profitability since the firm first began operating three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always been very cost-efficient,\u201d he reveals. \u201cEven after our first two financing rounds, we didn’t spend any of the capital. In the current market, this gives you more points than it used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last profitable tech company<\/h2>\n

After a string of high-profile startup failures like Pakistan\u2019s top startup Airlift last year, which previously boasted a huge valuation of $270m, it only holds that investors will recoup their losses by prioritising \u2018money in the bank\u2019 over expansion. Pylarinos concurs with this theory.<\/p>\n

\u201c[This year] was much harder than previous fundraisers that we did in the past,\u201d he admits. \u201cBut there was interest because we were never this traditional startup that burns massive amounts of capital or relies on the next fundraiser to endure.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, when crafting a business plan, think cautiously before you emphasise growth over survival. For those of us who are used to reading about tech startups like Uber \u2013 which, despite being worth over $50bn, didn\u2019t turn a profit until 2021 \u2013 that might be a foreign idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly a few years back, if you were a company that was not spending capital, that translated as [proof] you are not growing fast enough,\u201d acknowledges Pylarinos. \u201cYet, we were growing fast enough, and<\/em> spending less capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the current market conditions, I think we’re in a perfect spot. The risk of going bust in such conditions where capital is not granted, is much larger.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That theory has been proved this week with a string of high-profile tech layoffs including Spotify. The Swedish music-streaming giant announced it would cut 6% of its 10,000 employees on Monday. The company has never turned a full-year net profit.<\/p>\n

It sounds like the company could learn a thing or two from Hack the Box. Writing on the company’s blog, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said, \u201cin hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hack the Market<\/h2>\n

Despite its conservative behaviour, the team hasn’t stayed still. Since Pylarinos first coded the platform in 2017, Hack the Box has grown into a 180-person team. So how has it got so big, if it hasn\u2019t followed in companies like Airbnb\u2019s footsteps to reinvest millions into scale-up?<\/p>\n

Simply put: it\u2019s an excellent product that\u2019s stayed ahead of rivals. The startup\u2019s unique offering has attracted an ever-increasing army of cybersecurity experts to share techniques and methodologies for combating the latest cyber threats<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only promo or marketing however you want to call it that I did was that I posted a link to a Facebook group so people would start seeing it,\u201d says Pylarinos. \u201cIt had a much, much better reaction than I was expecting.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll say. Currently, the Hack the Box global following now stands at 1.7 million \u2013 a level of organic growth that would give Mark Zuckerberg cause for envy.<\/p>\n

Patience makes the fund grow bigger<\/h2>\n

One of the biggest factors that can affect funding success (particularly in a period of economic slowdown) is timing. It might make more sense to wait until the market outlook looks more favourable, and look to other funding sources like small business grants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But will putting the brakes on your business strategy affect success?<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t for Hack the Box. Pylarinos describes \u201cseveral attempts to raise capital in early 2022, when the market was declining like crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pylarinos attributes this to the company\u2019s humble, bootstrapped beginnings. Despite having now successfully completed three funding rounds (raising a total of $70m) starting out with just a small amount of savings has meant the founders have prioritised profitability since the firm first began operating three years ago. \u201cWe\u2019ve always been very cost-efficient,\u201d he reveals. \u201cEven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nHack the Bank: how cybersecurity startup Hack the Box raised \u00a345m in a recession | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pylarinos attributes this to the company\u2019s humble, bootstrapped beginnings. 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