# Rohyt Belani

> Rohyt Belani is the co-founder and founding CEO of PhishMe, later renamed Cofense, and executive chairman of Fortreum. Born and raised in Mumbai, he studied information networking at Carnegie Mellon, worked at Foundstone and Mandiant, and co-founded Intrepidus Group with Aaron Higbee. Their phishing-simulation work developed into a business combining employee training, suspicious-email reporting and threat response. PhishMe was acquired in a 2018 transaction valuing the company at approximately $400 million. His later work includes Litmus Advisors, a strategic advisory role at Morphisec and education nonprofit boards.

- **Role:** Executive Chairman at Fortreum
- **Organizations:** Cofense (formerly PhishMe), Fortreum, Litmus Advisors, Morphisec, Intrepidus Group, Mandiant, Foundstone, Carnegie Mellon University, Manhattan School of Music, Shanti Bhavan, Rudolf Steiner School of New York
- **From:** Mumbai, India
- **Education:** M.S. in Information Networking, Carnegie Mellon University, Information Networking Institute, Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering, Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, University of Mumbai
- **Known for:** Co-founded PhishMe/Cofense with Aaron Higbee and led its development from phishing simulations to employee-driven detection and response., Led PhishMe through the 2018 private equity transaction valuing the company at approximately $400 million., EY Entrepreneur of the Year honoree, 2017.

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Moved from India to the United States for graduate study at Carnegie Mellon University.
- **2001** — An internship at the Software Engineering Institute introduced him to cybersecurity.
- **2002** — Earned his M.S. in Information Networking and joined Foundstone.
- **2004-2005** — After Foundstone was acquired by McAfee in 2004, joined Kevin Mandia at Mandiant and helped establish its New York office.
- **2007** — Co-founded security consultancy Intrepidus Group with Aaron Higbee.
- **2008-2011** — PhishMe developed from phishing-simulation work inside Intrepidus; the independent company dates to early 2011 in Belani's own account.
- **2012** — PhishMe raised its first institutional financing; Intrepidus Group was acquired by NCC Group.
- **2015** — Reported more than 600 customers, over 150 full-time employees and approximately $25 million in annual billings for the simulator business.
- **2017** — Received an EY Entrepreneur of the Year award.
- **2018** — PhishMe was acquired by a private equity syndicate including BlackRock and Pamplona in a transaction valuing it at approximately $400 million, and rebranded as Cofense.
- **2023** — Named a Carnegie Mellon Tartan on the Rise and delivered the INI diploma ceremony keynote on May 14.
- **2025** — Identified publicly as managing partner of Litmus Advisors and appointed strategic advisor to Morphisec in September.
- **2026** — Listed as Fortreum executive chairman and a trustee of Manhattan School of Music.

## Achievements

- Co-founded PhishMe/Cofense with Aaron Higbee and led its development from phishing simulations to employee-driven detection and response.
- Led PhishMe through the 2018 private equity transaction valuing the company at approximately $400 million.
- EY Entrepreneur of the Year honoree, 2017.
- Washington Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree.
- Carnegie Mellon Tartan on the Rise, 2023.
- Contributing author to Hack Notes - Network Security and Extrusion Detection: Security Monitoring for Internal Intrusions.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Fortreum's board directory lists Belani as executive chairman.
- **2026-05** — Manhattan School of Music's commencement program lists Belani among its trustees.
- **2025-09** — Morphisec announced his appointment as strategic advisor; its announcement also identified him as managing partner at Litmus Advisors.
- **2025-04** — Appeared on David Politis's Not Another CEO podcast to discuss PhishMe, enterprise sales, financing and company culture.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohytbelani/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/rohytbelani

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rohyt-belani
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25