Security automation startup Cerby Inc. today announced that it has raised $17 million in new funding to scale up its go-to-market efforts and invest more in generative artificial intelligence.

Founded in 2020, Cerby offers an access management platform for nonstandard and disconnected applications. The platform harnesses the power of identity providers to remove the need for enterprise password managers by extending single sign-on and lifecycle management capabilities to any application.

Cerby’s zero-trust architecture is designed to take on the challenges of unmanageable applications in the shadow information technology universe. Shadow IT technologies are those selected and onboarded by business units outside the view of IT departments or don’t support industry standards such as security assertion markup language for authentication and cross-domain identity management systems for user provisioning.

The company’s orchestration engine is claimed to be the first and only service that makes passwordless authentication an immediate reality for nonstandard applications. The platform combines technology, robotic process automation and seamless integrations with providers such as Okta Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s Azure AD to understand commonly used software-as-a-service applications in a business context and automate security policies before they lead to breaches.

Cerby says its platform saves time and money by automating manual tasks such as offboarding and two-factor authentication enrollment. The platform also provides identity and access management professionals with deep visibility and control of employee-onboarded applications.

Though it emerged from stealth mode only in 2022, Cerby says it has seen strong growth, with L’Oréal S.A., Fox Corp., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Dentsu Group Inc. and Televisa S.A.B. de C.V. among its list of notable customers.

The Series A round was led by Two Sigma Ventures LLC, with Outpost Ventures LP, Ridge Ventures Inc., Founders Fund LP, Bowery Capital LLC, AV8 Capital Partners LLC, Salesforce Ventures LLC, Tau Ventures LLC, Okta Ventures LLC, Incubate Fund LP and Ben Johnson, co-founder of Obsidian Security Inc. and Carbon Black Inc., also participating.

“Cerby stands at the forefront of a transformation in identity management for nonstandard applications, a domain often overlooked yet critically vital,” David Dubick, partner at Outpost Ventures, said before the funding was announced. “Their unique approach, combined with a passionate team, promises to reshape the very fabric of how businesses approach identity security.”

Including the new funding, Cerby has raised $32.5 million to date.

Image: Cerby