Okta, a prominent identity and access management company, has announced its acquisition of security firm Spera, a move set to strengthen Okta’s existing identity threat detection and response (ITDR) capabilities.
Expected to finalize in the fiscal first quarter commencing in early February, the acquisition aims to empower Okta’s customers with enhanced identity security tools, posture management, and efficient risk identification, detection, and remediation.
While the exact deal figures were undisclosed, reports from Calcalist suggest that Okta might be paying between $100 million to $130 million for Spera, contingent on certain milestones.
In a blog post released this morning, Okta emphasized its commitment to empowering customers in an increasingly challenging digital landscape. “As the leading identity partner, we’re excited about how Spera Security can amplify our ITDR efforts to deliver more secure outcomes for our customers,” the post read.
Spera, previously covered by colleague Frederic, was co-founded by entrepreneurs Dor Fledel and Ariel Kadyshevitch several years ago. The Palo Alto- and Tel Aviv-based platform specializes in identifying silos across software-as-a-service and infrastructure apps, aiding in the discovery of vulnerabilities within user populations and prioritizing security issues based on regulations, attack vectors, and industry best practices.
Beyond its security focus, Spera also helps companies reduce license costs by identifying dormant accounts that can be deactivated.
With approximately 25 employees, Spera had previously raised $10 million in funding. Investors included YL Ventures and angel investors associated with tech giants like Google, Palo Alto Networks, Akamai, and Zendesk.
Okta envisions Spera as a pivotal tool for its customers, enabling a more comprehensive assessment of their identity infrastructure’s security posture, as well as their applications and services. Citing research from Gartner, Okta projects a substantial rise in organizations adopting embedded ITDR strategies, potentially reaching 90% by 2026 from the current 5% to 20%.
“With Spera, our customers can access richer insights and technology to elevate their identity security posture management, swiftly identify, detect, and mitigate risks,” the blog post highlighted. “They can leverage Spera’s actionable suggestions, such as identifying single sign-on or multi-factor authentication exclusions for privileged and service accounts, to bolster their security stance and address potential threat vectors proactively.”
This acquisition follows Okta’s previous purchase of a16z-backed password manager Uno and arrives on the heels of a successful fiscal quarter. The $6 billion company surpassed Wall Street’s expectations in Q4, indicating positive momentum for the publicly traded firm, drawing favor from shareholders.
