Israeli security governance platform for low-code/no-code applications startup Zenity Ltd. announced today that it has raised $16.5 million in new funding in a Series A round led by Intel Capital Corp.

Co-founded in 2021 by Ben Kliger and Michael Bargury (pictured), both former members of Microsoft Corp.’s cloud security team, Zenity claims to be the world’s first platform for securing low-code/no-code development. While working at Microsoft, the co-founders saw firsthand the problem organizations were having in governing and securing citizen-developed apps and automation – specifically in low-code/no-code platforms.

Zenity argues that though low-code/no-code solutions allow organizations to build tools and services to streamline work and automate repetitive tasks, those features come with risks. Less technical users are more prone to creating apps and automation susceptible to data leaks, implicit sharing and identity misuse, it says.

The company’s platform allows organizations leveraging low-code/no-code platforms to unlock and promote development in a secure and compliant way while mitigating risks. Zenity offers security teams continuous visibility and risk assessment across all applications, automation, workflows and connections built across different low-code/no-code platforms. Users also gain the ability to set automated guardrails and risk mitigation through policies, playbooks and customizations.

“As organizations strive to increase productivity by adopting low-code/no-code and generative AI tools, everyone is now a developer,” Bargury, the company’s chief technology officer, explained in a statement. “However, as business users are empowered to create apps, they circumvent the traditional software development lifecycle, thus making incumbent application security practices obsolete.”

Joining Intel Capital in the round were Vertex Ventures Holdings Pte. Ltd., Upwest Labs L.P., Gefen Capital Partners L.P. and B5 Capital Partners L.P. Yoni Greifman, Intel Capital investment director, will join Zenity’s board of directors.

“With this new era of application development, chief information security officers and chief information officers don’t know what their low-code/no-code environments look like,” noted Intel Capital Managing Director Sunil Kurkure. “Today more than ever, they need quick solutions that enable and empower their workforce to build applications.”

Including the new round, Zenity has raised $21.5 million to date, including a seed round of $5 million in November 2021. The company noted that the new funding will allow it to continue leading the “new application security frontier” and help organizations promote citizen development responsibly.

Photo: Zenity