Our Story

When James Hadley first scribbled down his idea, he had no idea it would later become a platform that the likes of Goldman Sachs and Summit Partners would want to invest in. This is our story…

A brief history

After delivering GCHQ’s cyber school, James realised that passive classroom-based training suited neither the people nor the pace of cybersecurity. The content dated quickly, and its one-dimensional nature meant the creative minds in the room quickly disengaged. He knew that a practical online solution was needed – one that would allow learners to continuously hone their skills, get to grips with new threats, and become familiar with the latest tools and techniques. In short, they needed a platform that would help them keep up with the attackers.

On the flip side, businesses have never struggled more to ensure their security teams are well resourced, well trained, and well prepared. Their focus has been on building their tech stacks – not on the people behind the screens. As a result, the skills shortage is only growing as security teams are overworked and undertrained, and organizations are left scrambling to catch up with the ever-shifting threat landscape.

Enter Immersive Labs.

Immersive Labs is the leader in people-centric cyber resilience. We help organizations continuously assess, build, and prove their cyber workforce resilience for teams across the entire organization, from front-line cybersecurity and development teams to Board-level executives. We provide realistic simulations and hands-on cybersecurity labs to evaluate individual and team capabilities and decision-making against the latest threats.

We’ve grown to over 300 employees across the UK, US and EMEA, with hubs in Bristol, UK and Boston, MA. To date, we’ve secured $123 million in investment from Insight Partners, Menlo Ventures, Citi Ventures, Summit Partners and Goldman Sachs. Our technology is already helping over 300 enterprises around the world, including AirBnB, P&G, Citibank, Sophos and the NHS, while around 5,000 labs are completed every single day.

  1. IML starts in a box

    Founded

    January 2017
    Immersive Labs is founded by James Hadley! Our very first office – a shipping container at Bristol’s Boxworks – is opened.
  2. 1st iteration of iML platform

    1st Platform Launched

    May 2017
    The first iteration of our platform is launched just in time for us to release a lab on one of the biggest security incidents of the 21st century: Wannacry.
  3. 2nd space

    Growing Team

    March 2018
    Our team grows to 20. We have well and truly outgrown the shipping container, so we move up the road to Hartwell House, Bristol.
  4. 1st QBR

    1st Investment

    June 2018
    We secure an $8m investment from Goldman Sachs and celebrate with our first (infamous) Quarterly Business Review Party.
  5. Hartwell house

    Grow to new space

    October 2018
    Our team grows to 50 and we move into Runway East to accommodate all the new faces!
  6. Boston office

    US Office

    July 2019
    We launch in the US! Our first home across the pond is in Boston, MA, and we set to growing the team even more.
  7. Series B

    November 2019
    Now this is a big one! We raise $40M in Series B funding through Summit Partners and our existing investor Goldman Sachs.
  8. 100th employee

    100th Employee

    January 2020
    We welcome our 100th employee, just three years after employee number 1. Watch the video here
  9. working from home during COVID

    We go remote

    March 2020
    Overnight, we switch to a fully remote workforce. All 130 of us on both sides of the Atlantic are set up at home, ready to tackle life and work under lockdown.
  10. life's too short

    Life’s too short

    September 2020
    Our fully remote team of 150 get the chance to try something new as part of our ‘You Only Live Once’ perk.
  11. Secured $75M in Series C Investment

    June 2021
    We've raised $75M to harness data insights for workforce-wide cyber skills
  12. Our Marketing team

    We’re ecstatic to be one of Comparably’s Top 25 Happiest workplaces!

    October 2021
    This award is extra special as it was assessed by anonymous employee reviews over the last 12 months, covering feedback around our work environment, pay, benefits, mental health, investment in company goals, interaction with colleagues, and pride in working at Immersive Labs.

    Read the Blog Post

  13. 300!

    300th employee

    January 2022
    We welcome Immerser 300!

    Watch the video here

  14. An Immerser scooting around our new office!

    New Bristol HQ!

    January 2022
    Our team grows to 300 and we move into the Programme Building to accommodate a new way of working! You can have a sneak peek inside here
  15. Headshot of Lucian Lui

    Our new Chief Marketing Officer – Lucian Lui!

    May 2022
    So much excitement as we welcome Lucian Lui as our Chief Marketing Officer and newest Immerser.
  16. Sandra McDevitt - Chief Human Resources Officer

    Welcome to Sandra McDevitt!

    July 2022
    We welcomed our first Chief Human Resource Officer - Sandra McDevitt to the Immersive Labs team.
  17. James Hadley CEO of Immersive Labs

    We’ve secured a further $66M in Series C Investment

    October 2022
    Immersive Labs raises $66M for cybersecurity skills learning and verification platform. This further shows investor confidence in our Cyber Workforce Resilience platform.
  18. Disability Confident - Committed

    We are a registered Disability Confident employer!

    November 2022
    Disability Confident is helping us recruit and retain great people to meet our workforce needs.