Upfront Ventures is proud to be an early investor and long-term partner to the most exciting founders and startups. Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA, San Francisco, and Paris, Upfront has backed standout teams across all technology sectors, including Ring (acq. by Amazon), TrueCar (NASDAQ: TRUE), Bird, Maker Studios (acq by Disney), GOAT, Apeel Sciences, thredUP, Invoca and Kyriba (acq by Bridgepoint). We invest about half of our capital in the fast-growing Southern California ecosystem, with the balance across the country as well as investments in Europe and Israel. Upfront Ventures is led by Managing Partners Yves Sisteron, Mark Suster, and Kara Nortman.

Upfront Ventures

SmartGateVC is a SoCal and Armenia based VC with a focus on pre-seed investments in AI. Krisp (the world’s best noise cancellation technology), SuperAnnotate (the fastest annotation platform and services for training AI) are among our investments (31 portfolio companies since 2018). Sierra Ventures, Upfront Ventures, AI Fund, YC, and others are among our follow-on investors. We invest out of 2 funds and our investors include Tim Draper, One Way Ventures, and other high-profile GPs, entrepreneurs, and professionals.

SmartGateVC

One Way Ventures is a seed-stage fund that invests in immigrant tech founders. The firm helps immigrant founders to start their businesses and companies in the US. It was founded in 2017 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

One Way Ventures

Crosslink, founded in 1989, is a premier early-stage venture capital firm with over $1.3B in assets.  Crosslink partners with founders that are market disrupters and category creators, typically at the Seed-Series A stage, across highly dynamic enterprise and consumer technology sectors. Over its history, Crosslink has had the opportunity to partner with defining companies such as Bleacher Report (acquired by TWX), BuildingConnected (acquired by ADSK), Chime, Coupa (COUP), DataStax, Molekule, Omniture (acquired by ADBE), Personal Capital (acquired by Empower Retirement), Postmates (acquired by UBER), ServiceMax (acquired by GE), Verodin (acquired by FEYE), Vungle (acquired by Blackstone) and Weave.

Crosslink Capital

Pelion Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs and invests in early-stage B2B software-based companies. Since 1986, Pelion Venture Partners has been helping entrepreneurs turn early-stage concepts into tomorrow's industry-leading companies. Pelion invests in early-stage B2B software across the US. With 7 investment team members, Pelion has deep and diverse industry and investment experience. They are hands-on in their approach and work collaboratively with each portfolio company.

Pelion Venture Partners

Liberty Global Ventures is an investment fund owned by Liberty Global. Its existing portfolio consists of companies in the content, technology, internet, and distribution space. These investments are managed by a dedicated team of professionals located in Denver, Palo Alto, London, and Amsterdam.

Liberty Global Ventures

Founders.ai builds companies from scratch, makes venture investments, and buys shares on a secondary market. The aim of the Founders.ai startup platform is to enable tenacious people around the world to build companies that will improve work and life with AI and data.

Founders.ai

Britive

Our solution is cloud-native, delivering multi-cloud privileged access visibility, policy enforcement, and threat monitoring all in one platform. ​ Britive significantly increases operational efficiency by instant provisioning of cloud privileges to users and making them productive from day one.

<div>Britive is a cloud-native privileged access management (CPAM) solution designed specifically for dynamic cloud environments. It provides a unified multi-cloud access management platform that secures access to cloud infrastructure and platform services. Britive's patented technology enables dynamic, ephemeral access by granting and revoking permissions based on policies and user attributes. Permissions exist only when requested and automatically expire after a set period, eliminating the risk associated with standing access and over-privileged accounts.</div>

Ensuring the right people access the right resources at the right time

Identity & Access Management

Britive's Continued Innovation Meets Growing Demands for PAM Equipped for Multi-Cloud Enterprise Environments

<div>
 
 Britive is a cloud-native privileged access management (CPAM) solution designed specifically for dynamic cloud environments. It provides a unified multi-cloud access management platform that secures access to cloud infrastructure and platform services. Britive's patented technology enables dynamic, ephemeral access by granting and revoking permissions based on policies and user attributes. Permissions exist only when requested and automatically expire after a set period, eliminating the risk associated with standing access and over-privileged accounts.
 
 
 Britive's API-first design allows for vendor-agnostic, native integrations across entire cloud environments, streamlining user experience and leveraging existing investments. The platform supports CI/CD pipeline automations, CLI access through PyBritive, and other DevOps-friendly features, enabling development speed without compromising security.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of March 2023, Britive managed over 3.5 million identities and eliminated over 56 million static permissions across more than 8,500 multi-cloud environments. Notable customers include Forbes, Signal Sciences, Splunk, Reltio, and Nayya.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In March 2023, the company raised USD 20.5 million in Series B funding round led by Pelion Venture Partners with participation from Liberty Global Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and One Way Ventures. The funds were raised to support customer growth.
 
 
 
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FortifID is a software company that puts individuals back in control of their identity and directly connects individuals to institutions. The company building a network to power secure, trusted &amp; robust consumer data for the digital world, also enabling individuals to seize control over the use of their personal data. They solve the needs ofbusinesses that use, buy or sell personal data, as well as the privacy needs of consumers for business using personal data, for business selling personal data, and for individuals. Their vision is a data solution for the digital age using blockchain and next-gen concepts from MIT. FortifID was founded in 2017 and is based in Mountain View, California, USA.

FortifID

<div>
 
 Keycloak is an open-source identity and access management (IAM) solution developed by Red Hat. It provides robust user authentication, authorization, and single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, allowing users to securely access multiple applications and services with a single set of credentials. Keycloak supports industry-standard protocols such as OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, and SAML 2.0, ensuring interoperability and seamless integration with various applications and frameworks.
 
 
 One of Keycloak's key features is its ability to act as an identity provider (IdP), handling user authentication and attribute assertions. It can also function as a service provider (SP), relying on external IdPs for authentication and authorization. Keycloak offers a user-friendly administration console, where administrators can manage users, roles, and permissions, as well as configure authentication methods, federation settings, and authorization policies.
 
 
 Keycloak supports user federation, allowing it to integrate with existing user stores such as LDAP and Active Directory. It also enables identity brokering, empowering users to authenticate using their existing social media accounts or external identity providers. Additionally, Keycloak provides customizable login pages, password recovery mechanisms, and support for multi-factor authentication, enhancing security and user experience.
 
 
 As an open-source project, Keycloak benefits from community contributions, ensuring its continuous improvement and adaptation to evolving business needs. Organizations can leverage the extensive documentation, forums, and resources provided by the Keycloak community for support and guidance during implementation and customization.
 
 
 
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Keycloak

<div>
 
 miniOrange provides Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions offering a range of products, including Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB). Its solutions secure access to various applications and cloud services while enabling seamless user experiences.&nbsp;
 
 
 miniOrange's technology allows organizations to implement access control policies based on factors like IP addresses, locations, devices, and time restrictions, providing granular control over data access. Additionally, its solutions integrate with platforms such as Microsoft 365, ServiceNow, Oracle EBS, and Zoom, enabling businesses to enhance security across their digital ecosystems. With a strong focus on compliance and data protection, miniOrange's IAM offerings help enterprises mitigate risks associated with unauthorized access, data breaches, and cyber threats.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 miniOrange's client base spans various industries, including government entities, healthcare organizations, and enterprises across the US.&nbsp;
 
 
 miniOrange partners with companies like Oracle, Microsoft, ServiceNow, and Zoom, integrating their IAM solutions to secure access to these platforms seamlessly. Its extensive app integration library, comprising over 5,000 applications, allows organizations to optimize resources and costs while streamlining authentication and access management processes.
 
 
 
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miniOrange

One Identity provides identity security solutions focused on protecting and unifying four core elements: Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), Access Management (AM), Privileged Access Management (PAM), and Active Directory Management. The company's solutions help organizations manage identities across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments through a modular and integrated approach to user account management. In October 2021, One Identity acquired OneLogin, which expanded its capabilities to include Single Sign-On, multi-factor authentication, directory integration, and user provisioning. The combination allowed customers to take a comprehensive approach to identity security through a unified identity security platform.

One Identity

<div>
 
 SailPoint provides identity security solutions for enterprises. Its identity governance and administration (IGA) platform, IdentityIQ, allows organizations to manage and secure access to applications, data, and cloud resources across their entire IT infrastructure. IdentityIQ automates user provisioning, access requests, access certifications, and policy enforcement, ensuring that users have the appropriate level of access based on their roles and responsibilities.
 
 
 IdentityIQ integrates with various enterprise systems, including cloud, mobile, and on-premises applications, through connectors and APIs. This integration allows for synchronized user access management across the organization's technology landscape. The platform's key components include, 1)Identity Cube, a centralized repository for user identities and access rights, 2)Policies for enforcing organizational and regulatory standards, 3)Workflows for automating identity-related processes, and 4)Tasks, scheduled or event-driven processes for executing specific activities).
 
 
 SailPoint's identity governance solution helps organizations streamline audit and compliance processes, enhance security posture, and improve operational efficiency. It offers features such as role-based access control (RBAC), separation of duties (SoD) enforcement, password management, and compliance reporting. The platform leverages AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities to automate tasks, analyze identity data, and assist in determining appropriate access levels.
 
 
 In August 2022, SailPoint was acquired by Thoma Bravo in an all-cash transaction valued at ~USD 6.9 billion. Subsequently, it was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 SailPoint has established partnerships with various technology companies and has a strong customer base spanning multiple industries. Some notable customers are General Electric, Vodafone, ADP, and Western Union. SailPoint has also formed a partnership with Circle Security, a decentralized threat prevention platform, to enhance the security offerings for its customers.
 
 
 SailPoint actively collaborates with industry leaders, such as Cisco and Rapid7, to expand its identity security solutions and integrate with their respective products and services. The company maintains a partner ecosystem, including managed security service providers (MSSPs) and resellers, to facilitate the deployment and adoption of its identity governance solutions across various market segments.
 
 
 
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SailPoint

Platforms that manage and control user access to systems, applications, and resources and govern the policies, processes, and controls necessary to ensure appropriate access levels, permissions, and entitlements are granted to users based on their roles, responsibilities, and organizational requirements

Platforms that manage and maintain controls, policies, and systems that govern the entire lifecycle of an employee's access to company resources, systems, and data

Platforms that provide an additional layer of security beyond traditional username and password authentication, including controls such as one-time passwords (OTP), biometric data recognition (such as fingerprint, facial recognition), hardware tokens, or push notifications to mobile devices as a means to strengthen the authentication process

Platforms that manage and secure the digital identities and access rights of customers or users across various applications, services, and resources of an organization

Platforms that focus on managing user credentials, including passwords, to ensure secure access to systems, applications, data and resources

Platforms that enable users to authenticate once and gain access to multiple systems, applications, or services without the need to provide separate credentials for each system or resource access and usage

IAM solutions enable personalization by tailoring user rights, roles, and access to services based on individual profiles

IAM solutions enhance transparency and accountability by controlling user access, monitoring activity, facilitating audits, and preventing unauthorized access, ensuring business data integrity

AI/ML in IAM help automate risk analysis, anomaly detection, and adapt access controls, improving security.

Certain customer IAM providers also offer biometric authentication solutions

This is a key demand driver for IAM solutions as companies switch to a hybrid work environment, driving the increased need to manage user identity and access to organizational resources

Companies offering IAM solutions offer their solutions under a B2B SaaS model

Britive

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