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Entering a crowded market dominated by large corporations and fighting a rash of sophisticated
malware outbreaks, Marcin Kleczynski founded anti-malware company Malwarebytes in 2008.
Just 18 years old at the time, he had already formed a firm determination to fight the scourge of
malware on all fronts.
Just four years earlier – at 14 – he had been working part-time in his local computer shop.
Noticing that numerous computers were infected with malware, despite being equipped with
anti-virus software, he worked on a sample at home and, after three days of intense
development, built an application to remove it. Following this, he dedicated 60 hours per week
for the next four years – on top of his full-time studies – to build free software to help people
remove problem malware. His development efforts were entirely transparent; Kleczynski
continually sought feedback from online forums and even recruited forum members who would
eventually become part of the management team.
His first creation, RogueRemover, which he designed to thwart the theft of credit card
information, formed the basis for the company’s first commercial product, Malwarebytes Anti-
Malware. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware quickly became a popular download for consumers who
wanted to complement their anti-virus software, which cannot catch all the latest threats. The
product's goal: to expunge today’s more sophisticated infections.
Kleczynski Named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young
Today, Malwarebytes is a world-class organization with products protecting both consumers and
businesses from today’s advanced cyber-threats. With more than 140 employees around the
world, the home product has over 300 million downloads and Malwarebytes’ enterprise offering
is used by thousands of businesses as a defense against today’s sophisticated cyber-threats.
In June 2014, Kleczynski's success was lauded by Ernst & Young, which named him
Entrepreneur of the Year. The annual award recognizes outstanding innovation, dedication,
and results in bringing new products and services to market. Just a month later, on July 10,
Malwarebytes received $30 million in Series A funding.
Six years earlier, nobody could have predicted such performance and industry attention. At the
launch of the fledgling Malwarebytes in 2008, many thought a bootstrapped start-up would
struggle to gain share in a market dominated by large corporations. After all, Kleczynski's
competitors had collectively spent billions of dollars convincing people they stopped every
threat, and that there was no need for a complementary solution. Kleczynski saw this challenge
as an opportunity to differentiate, targeting a tech-savvy audience who knew this to be untrue,
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