HacWare
A New York-based AI-driven security awareness and phishing simulation platform built for lean IT teams and MSPs.
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HacWare runs an automated security awareness and phishing simulation platform aimed at lean internal IT teams and managed service providers who lack a dedicated security training function. The platform mines the web daily for current phishing threats, runs ongoing simulated phishing campaigns, and delivers short training videos, quizzes, and newsletters, with API integrations for customization and a dedicated MSP partner program.
Founded in 2019 by CEO Tiffany Ricks, the Brooklyn, New York-based company is a Google for Startups and TechCrunch Startup Battlefield alumnus. Disclosed funding is modest — reported figures range from roughly $150,000 to $2.6 million across multiple small rounds, reflecting a bootstrapped, early-stage trajectory rather than a venture-fueled one.
Its differentiator is targeting the MSP and small-IT-team segment that larger security-awareness platforms often underserve, with automation standing in for a dedicated internal security team.
Innovation Matrix Assessment
A six-year-old company with steady but modest product iteration (daily threat mining, API integrations); no evidence of rapid recent capability expansion.
Automating phishing simulation and training for MSPs and lean IT teams addresses a real resourcing gap for organizations without a dedicated security function.
Total disclosed funding is small (roughly $150K-$2.6M across conflicting sources) for a six-year-old company, suggesting limited market pull relative to better-funded peers.
A straightforward automation play within a long-established, crowded security-awareness-training category (KnowBe4, Proofpoint, and others), not a structural change to the approach.
The company cites a 60% reduction in malware outbreaks and 40% savings on management costs; these are vendor-published figures without independent verification found.
Security awareness training for resource-constrained IT teams remains a persistent need, but the approach itself isn't especially forward-looking relative to AI-driven, deepfake-focused competitors.
Why CISOs Should Care
Gives IT teams and MSPs without a dedicated security function an automated, low-touch way to run ongoing phishing simulations and training.
What Makes It Different
Focuses specifically on the MSP and lean-IT-team segment with heavy automation, rather than competing head-on with enterprise-focused awareness platforms.
The Matrix Verdict
45/100 — EMERGING / UNRANKED
A long-running, modestly funded company serving an underserved segment. It lands as Emerging/Unranked: real, narrow utility, but weak funding momentum, low category disruption, and no independently verified efficacy evidence to support a higher tier.
Editorial Note: Claims vs. Verified Findings
The 60% malware-reduction and 40% cost-savings figures are company-published marketing claims; no independent study was found to confirm them.
Sources
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