Welcome, Oleria
- Founder: Jim Alkove, Jagadeesh Kunda
- Sector: Cybersecurity
- Location: Seattle, WA
The Opportunity
For 30+ years, organizations around the world have utilized Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions to enable their workforce as they incorporate more technology/devices. Over time, technology has evolved dramatically—from specific individual users part of an on-premises server in a basement, to users now accessing their corporate networks through multiple devices across the world while browsing the public internet. The rise of cloud computing has added to this change, as the server in the basement has been replaced by ephemeral instances of the cloud that change identities by the minute.
This is where we see an opportunity. While IAM has evolved over the decades, the IT DNA has persisted through legacy vendors. Even relatively newer vendors brand themselves as security companies while providing IT/compliance/governance DNA solutions that continue to fail the modern enterprise. These organizations struggle to keep up with the growing demand and complexities of modern identity infrastructure that brings together different users, networks, micro-services, SaaS applications, and more.
The way we see it, while today’s solutions are good at provisioning access and creating basic identity workflows / authenticating users from an IT perspective, they lack the intelligence, agility, and security context required to keep up with the rise in cyberattacks. Crowdstrike reports that 80% of all security breaches are the result of compromised identities. Further, Gartner states that “by 2026, 70% of identity-first security strategies will fail unless organizations adopt context-based access policies that are continuous and consistent.”
We believe IAM needs to be rebuilt with a security-first & cloud-native DNA. This is where Oleria comes in 🙂
The Solution
Oleria has developed an innovative approach to IAM that’s designed to provide appropriate access to the right users, at the right time, for the right duration, with a focus on great UX.
Oleria’s Adaptive Security solution continuously assesses and validates the people, applications, and assets involved in each digital interaction, enabling organizations to adapt security to specific contexts and changing needs. With modern businesses adopting an ever-increasing number of interconnected SaaS applications and cloud infrastructure to drive global operations, Oleria represents a massive improvement over legacy security solutions that require significant manual effort to combat identity-based threats.
Oleria’s AI-first approach, combined with a security and identity DNA, can orchestrate IAM across an organization without needing constant manual input. Oleria can understand user behavior and patterns of access to become smarter while enabling organizations to adopt a just-in-time + zero-trust philosophy at scale.
Oleria’s value proposition is already resonating, as the company has built a strong pipeline of unicorn startups and large enterprises ready to implement Oleria’s Adaptive Security solution.
Why We’re Backing Oleria
Our excitement for Oleria stems from our confidence in the team and our optimism for the market they’re building in / massive problem they’re solving.
Founders Jim Alkove and Jagadeesh Kunda possess a wealth of cybersecurity expertise. Jim is the former Chief Trust Officer at Salesforce with 25+ years of experience building cybersecurity products for Microsoft and Google. Jagadeesh is the former VP of Identity at Salesforce and has 20+ years of experience in the infrastructure, security, and identity space—most recently as the CPO at JumpCloud. They bring together the right combination of product-building expertise and operational security prowess at the largest of enterprise scales.
This problem of enterprise identity is also close to their hearts. While at Salesforce, Jim and Jagadeesh invested heavily to modernize Salesforce’s identity infrastructure. Their shared experience was the spark that has become Oleria.
The duo are entering a market that’s ripe for disruption. IAM / IGA (Identity Governance and Administration) is a $17B+ industry dominated by legacy enterprises and private equity roll-ups that have been slow to keep up with the shift to SaaS and cloud. As more and more hacks are wedged in through lack of identity governance, the timing for building a security-focused IAM / IGA solution is ideal.
What’s Next?
We’re very excited to back Oleria’s Series A round alongside Evolution Equity.
This new round of funding will enable Oleria to ramp up hiring to accelerate product innovation, including their AI strategy and GTM strategy. We look forward to supporting the team as they work to build the next-gen cybersecurity solution for enterprises.
Welcome to the Salesforce Ventures family, Oleria!
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