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Cloud security vendor Okta has raised $75 million from existing shareholders, taking its market valuation at $1.2 billion.
A specialist in identity and mobility management, Okta raised the finance from lead investors Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and Sequoia Capital. New investment has been attracted from Khosla Ventures, Altimeter, Glynn Capital and others.
Since its founding in 2009, Okta has now raised a total of $230 million.
Okta has added to its management team with Michelle Wilson, former general counsel at Amazon, joining as the first independent director on its board. In addition, Okta has appointed Michael Guerchon, ex-Riversoft HR man, as its Chief People Officer and Jon Runyan as its General Counsel. Runyan, formerly a partner in Goodwin Proctor’s technology companies practice, will oversee the company’s legal affairs worldwide.
In September Okta announced a ‘substantial investment’ in private cloud infrastructure rented from Amazon Web Services in Germany. An additional disaster recovery facility has been established in Eire. The use of the AWS facilities was a move to manage all European data in a single facility within Europe.
“We’re at an important inflection point where IT leaders, product developers and industry analysts see the critical role identity plays in connecting people, apps, devices and organizations,” said Todd McKinnon, Okta CEO, “Okta pioneered cloud-based identity management, which set us up to become the foundation for secure connections.”
Okta stakeholder Ben Horowitz, co-founder of investment partner Andreessen Horowitz, described Okta as the ‘runaway market leader in identity management’.
“This new round of funding will expand their scope and bring that solution to the world,” said Horowitz.
Since its start-up in 2009, Okta has won 2,500 customers globally catering to demand for cloud security with its identity management service.
Meanwhile, Cybersecurity vendor Webroot announced new channel to market for its cloud based services, in a partnership with New Zealand-based distributor exceed. The agreement gives retailers, IT resellers and managed service providers access to Webroot’s cloud-based big data analytics, automated machine learning and intelligent endpoint security.
Distributors, resellers and service providers are revising their business model to focus on cloud services, giving security vendors the scope for rapid expansion, according to Justin Tye, Exeed’s managing director. “We selected Webroot for its flexible, fast, and effective solutions, as well as its business model that clearly supports a multifaceted sales strategy,” said Tye.