Cloud-based, zero-trust access and networking is the hottest trend in the security industry. The pure-plays in this segment are seriously challenging incumbent providers with a modern approach to securing the network, users, applications, and devices with a user-identity and device-identity based approach.Â
Two up-and-comers in this segment are Perimeter 81 and Elisity, both founded in 2018. Perimeter 81 is further along in its lifecycle, in that it has raised $40M and has more than 1,000 customers. Amit Bareket said that the entire infrastructure as we know it must be ripped out and replaced with a solution that is more simple, easier to maintain, and consume, “regardless of where offices, data centers, and cloud environments are located”. Â
The timing for these startups could not have been more perfect, now that working remotely has taken center stage as the global pandemic rages on. The value proposition for these startups is compelling. In one fell swoop, their service can replace several security appliances, including VPNs with a cost-effective SaaS service. In short, the traditional perimeter has vanished. Every employee, device, application, data center, and so on, is the new perimeter to the organization.  Â
Elisity raised $7.5M in seed funding and emerged from stealth mode earlier in the month. Their belief is that traditional networking architectures of connecting sites and workers are obsolete. Thus, too much trust is placed on users and devices, leaving them vulnerable to bad actors and horizontal attacks. The startup also believes that in order to protect an organization, they must create a software-defined perimeter and zero-trust network, treating everyone as an outsider, including employees. The startup has developed an approach they call ECT to secures access to all locations, devices, data, and assets. The way it works is simple – all assets are hidden and the only way to see anything is by setting up a policy to give them to a given device, application, network, and so on. With this approach, Elisity changed “access management” from an IP-based model to one based on the identity of users, data, apps, and devices.Â
Perimeter 81 Background
- Company: Perimeter 81
- Founded: 2018
- HQ: Tel Avia
- Raised: $65M
- # of Employees: 76+
- Founders: Amit Bareket (CEO) and Sagi Gidali (CPO)
- Product: Zero Trust Secure Access and Networking Platform
Elisity Background
- Company: Elisity Inc.
- Founded: 2018
- HQ: Milpitas, CA
- Raised: $7.5M
- # of Employees: 18
- Founders: Burjiz Pithawala (CEO) and Sundher Nraryan (Chief Architect)
- Product: Zero Trust Secure Access and Networking Platform