CYBERSTART LIMITED
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersMoreton-In-Marsh, United Kingdom
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
CYBERSTART LIMITED firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CYBERSTART LIMITED
- Legal name
- CyberStart Limited
- Website
- https://cyberstart.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Closed
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CYBERSTART LIMITED industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cybersecurity Education Software
- NAICS
- Computer Training (611420), Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Other Computer Related Services (541519)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cybersecurity Learning Platforms (EDAFANAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cybersecurity (Digital Safety, Ethical Hacking Basics) (EDAMACAH), Cybersecurity Training & Awareness Programs (BPAEANAF), Cybersecurity Technical Skills (Security Engineering, SOC, Pen Testing) (EDABAFAF), Cybersecurity (EDAAAPAC)
Keywords
Where CYBERSTART LIMITED is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Moreton-In-Marsh
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
CYBERSTART LIMITED business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Freemium / Free-to-Play: Base platform access with limited content was provided free of charge. Users could access 12 free challenges on the Intern base without payment. The platform was made available at no cost through government and institutional sponsorship programmes.
- Premium Features / Paid Licenses: Premium features including additional bases, levels, challenges, and content required paid access. Individual users aged 18+ or those with parental consent (ages 13-17) could purchase Premium Features. Payment was processed through third-party provider Shopify.
- Enterprise Licensing: Enterprise software purchase agreements allowed organisations (schools, government agencies, employers) to purchase bulk licenses for authorised users. Enterprise customers could administer registration tokens and manage user access.
- Sponsored Programme Access: Government agencies, charitable organisations, and higher education institutions sponsored free platform access for students. Partners included UK DCMS, National Cyber Scholarship Foundation, Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, and SANS Institute, which funded scholarships and training.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free tier with limited content access |
| Subscription | Monthly | Premium Features for individual users |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise / Group Licensing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
CYBERSTART LIMITED product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CyberStart is a gamified cybersecurity education platform that teaches ethical hacking and security skills through interactive challenges, hands-on labs, and game-based learning. It offered more than 200 challenges across four bases (Intern, Headquarters, Moon, and Forensics), a built-in Field Manual with video tutorials, and a Groups feature for cohort management, serving individual learners, educational institutions, and government-sponsored workforce development programs.
Product overview
CyberStart was a single unified gamified cybersecurity learning platform offering over 200 challenges across four themed bases (Intern, Headquarters, Moon, and Forensics). The platform incorporated the Field Manual (built-in guides, walkthroughs, and video tutorials) and CyberStart Groups (collaborative features with leaderboards and progress tracking). The platform operated from 2014-2024, serving over 300,000 users across numerous national programmes including Cyber Discovery (UK), CyberStart America, Cyber FastTrack, Girls Go CyberStart, and CyberStart Canada, among others. The platform closed in March 2024.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- CyberStart A gamified, browser-based cybersecurity education platform offering more than 200 challenges across four bases (Intern, Headquarters, Moon, and Forensics) that teach ethical hacking, cryptography, forensics, social engineering, and web exploitation to students, educators, and government-sponsored cohorts.
Quantifiable outcome
- 98.4% of users said that CyberStart helped develop their cyber security skills
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use CYBERSTART LIMITED
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
CYBERSTART LIMITED technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
CYBERSTART LIMITED partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Sinclair Community CollegeminorPartner in NSF-funded Jumpstart Into Cyber programme (2023-2024), focused on engaging underrepresented student groups in cybersecurity education through an eight-week two-step summer experience.
- National Science Foundation (NSF)coreFunded the Jumpstart Into Cyber programme in partnership with SANS Institute, Sinclair Community College, and CyberStart. The programme engaged underrepresented student groups in cybersecurity education with opportunity for free professional certifications.
- State of Michigan / Michigan Governor's OfficeminorMichigan Governor's High School Cyber Challenge (2023) invited all Michigan high school students to play CyberStart to test their cybersecurity knowledge. Top players were invited to a SANS Core Netwars event.
- Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan UniversitycoreCollaborated on CyberStart Canada (2022-2024), providing free access to immersive gamified cybersecurity learning for Canadian high school students, with particular focus on groups underrepresented in the cybersecurity industry.
- National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF)coreSince 2020, NCSF has used the CyberStart platform to identify aptitude in high school and college students, awarded millions of dollars in cybersecurity scholarships, and partnered with SANS Institute for professional training. CyberStart served as the primary assessment and aptitude identification tool for the scholarship programme.
- Catalyst Cyber Camp / Brampton OntariominorCatalyst Cyber Camp provided free access to CyberStart for 500 youth in Brampton, Ontario during summer 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. This unique virtualised programme was the first of its kind in Canada.
- UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)coreDCMS funded the Cyber Discovery programme as part of the UK's National Cyber Security Strategy. Over four years (2017-2021), the programme helped discover and develop the UK's most talented cyber defenders, with 100,000 young people aged 13-18 participating.
- SANS InstitutecoreSANS Institute served as the training partner for multiple CyberStart programmes, providing professional certifications and advanced cybersecurity training to programme participants who qualified for scholarships. Partnered with NCSF, CyberStart Canada, and other initiatives.
- US JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps)minorUS JROTC cadets were encouraged to use CyberStart to discover talent, advance skills and win scholarships as digital soldiers. Top performers were offered professional certified training through the programme.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
CYBERSTART LIMITED competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Pluralsight: Pluralsight is a broad online technology skills training platform offering courses across IT, cloud, and cybersecurity. It serves a similar skills-development need as CyberStart but operates as a generalist incumbent covering many technology domains rather than specializing in cybersecurity or gamified learning.
- Codecademy: Codecademy is an interactive online learning platform for coding and technical skills with a freemium model similar to CyberStart's. While not cybersecurity-focused, it is comparable in its use of gamified, hands-on learning for student and beginner audiences in technology education.
- SANS Institute: SANS Institute is a globally established cybersecurity training and certification provider. It served as CyberStart's training partner for scholarships and certifications, but operates as a broader incumbent offering professional certifications (GIAC), corporate training, and degree programs across the cybersecurity workforce spectrum.
- Coursera: Coursera is a large online learning marketplace partnering with universities and companies to offer courses including cybersecurity programs. It represents a broader incumbent in the same education category but lacks CyberStart's gamification focus and youth-targeted narrative.
Direct peers
- RangeForce: RangeForce is a cloud-based cybersecurity skills training platform offering realistic threat simulation labs. While more enterprise-focused than CyberStart, it addresses the same underlying skills-gap problem with hands-on, gamified learning experiences for security practitioners.
- Hack The Box: Hack The Box is a gamified cybersecurity training and Capture-The-Flag platform offering challenges, labs, and competitive content for security enthusiasts. Like CyberStart, it emphasizes hands-on, immersive learning and community engagement, but operates at larger global scale with a stronger enterprise offering.
- TryHackMe: TryHackMe is a gamified cybersecurity learning platform offering hands-on labs and challenges for beginners through advanced learners. It is the closest direct competitor to CyberStart's gamified training model, targeting a similar audience of aspiring security professionals with a freemium structure.
- Cybrary: Cybrary is an online cybersecurity and IT training platform offering courses, hands-on labs, and certification prep. It shares CyberStart's mission of making cybersecurity skills accessible to learners at various levels and serves as a comparable freemium education platform in the same category.
- Immersive Labs: Immersive Labs provides a hands-on cybersecurity skills development platform for enterprises, offering labs and exercises that simulate real-world threats. It targets a similar skills-development use case as CyberStart but with a primary focus on corporate security teams rather than students and beginners.
Emerging players
- Code.org: Code.org is a non-profit focused on expanding computer science education in schools through free curriculum and resources. It is comparable to CyberStart in targeting K-12 students with engaging computer science content, though its focus is broader coding literacy rather than cybersecurity specifically.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
CYBERSTART LIMITED social profiles
Digital presenceCYBERSTART LIMITED financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CYBERSTART LIMITED leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
CYBERSTART LIMITED funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CYBERSTART LIMITED M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about CYBERSTART LIMITED
What does CYBERSTART LIMITED do?
CyberStart is a gamified cybersecurity education platform that teaches ethical hacking and security skills through interactive challenges, hands-on labs, and game-based learning. It offered more than 200 challenges across four bases (Intern, Headquarters, Moon, and Forensics), a built-in Field Manual with video tutorials, and a Groups feature for cohort management, serving individual learners, educational institutions, and government-sponsored workforce development programs.
Is CYBERSTART LIMITED a public or private company?
CYBERSTART LIMITED is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently closed.
When was CYBERSTART LIMITED founded?
CYBERSTART LIMITED was founded in 2014.
Where is CYBERSTART LIMITED based?
CYBERSTART LIMITED is headquartered in Moreton-In-Marsh, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does CYBERSTART LIMITED make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Freemium / Free-to-Play is the primary driver. The others are premium Features / Paid Licenses, enterprise Licensing and sponsored Programme Access.
Who are CYBERSTART LIMITED's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Pluralsight, Codecademy, SANS Institute and Coursera. Direct peers are RangeForce, Hack The Box, TryHackMe, Cybrary and Immersive Labs. Code.org is listed as an emerging player.
Does CYBERSTART LIMITED have an API?
No public API is recorded for CYBERSTART LIMITED.
What industry is CYBERSTART LIMITED in?
CYBERSTART LIMITED's product category is Cybersecurity Education Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFANAF, Cybersecurity Learning Platforms, with a secondary code of EDAMACAH, Cybersecurity (Digital Safety, Ethical Hacking Basics). Its NAICS code is 611420 and its SIC code is 8200.