Cerby, which manages access to “nonstandard” enterprise apps, like those without modern identity protocols, raised a $17M Series A led by Two Sigma Ventures 拆封鏡頭收購
拆封鏡頭收購 o these applications as ‘nonstandard apps.’ Nonstandard apps don’t work with enterprise IT and security tools because they lack support for modern identity protocols for automated onboarding and offboarding of users.”
Lepe tried to simply live with the problem as his career took him through various startups and organizations. But a few years back, he was connected with a customer, Wizeline, that expressed a willingness to spend to solve the nonstandard app dilemma.
With his co-worker at the time, Vidal González, Lepe set upon building a company to manage access for business-to-business nonstandard apps. That company became Cerby, which today closed a $17 million Series A funding round led by Two 拆封鏡頭收購sigma Ventures with participation from Ridge Ventures, Founders Fund, Bowery Capital, AV8, Salesforce Ventures, Tau Ventures, Okta Ventures, Incubate Fund and Carbon Black co-founder Ben Johnson.
Lepe wouldn’t reveal Cerby’s current valuation, but he claims that it’s “double” what it was 18 months ago.
“Harnessing the power of identity providers like Okta, Azure AD and SailPoint, Cerby removes the need for manual tools and compensating controls, such as enterprise password managers, by automating everyday human security tasks based on single sign-on and lifecycle management cues from upstream identity providers,” Lepe added. “This allows Cerby to protect any application independent of standards support.”
As Lepe alluded to, Cerby works by automating certain tasks, including offboarding and two-factor authentication enrollment, while providing security teams with visibility and control of employee-onboarded apps. It lets customers share access to social media accounts, for example, without sharing passwords. And Cerby can detect rogue apps, guiding users to more secure alternatives.
Lepe asserts that it can both reduce a company’s reliance on manual controls and prevent potential breaches — two key desires of most enterprises. “Cerby ensures that every application, regardless of location or support for standards, is integrated into a unified identity mesh, providing consistent security standards across the enterprise,” he added.
To use Cerby, companies first connect the platform to a corporate identity provider, like Okta or Ping. Then they register their apps in Cerby, accessing them by logging into the corporate identity provider.
Image Credits: Cerby
“While our initial focus was on managing access to applications for marketing teams, we’ve since expanded our reach,” Lepe said. “We now cater to most departments like sales, product, manufacturing and finance, covering applications ranging from on-premises and OT to legacy and cloud.”
Cerby competes with companies such as Nudge Security and Strata Identity, the former of which emerged from stealth with $7 million in funding just about a year ago.
To stay one step ahead, Cerby plans to adopt AI — specifically large language models similar to the kind powering OpenAI’s ChatGPT — to bolster its threat detection capabilities. Lepe describes AI that might be able to help guide users to the best way to securely configure an app when they’re signing up, perhaps via an interactive, in-context wizard.
“This isn’t only about scaling our integrations; it’s also about making o
