Okta, the leading identity and access management company, has recently announced its plans to acquire security firm Spera. This acquisition is expected to be finalized during the fiscal first quarter of early February.
According to Okta, the acquisition of Spera will further enhance their existing identity threat detection and response capabilities and equip their customers with cutting-edge technology to strengthen their identity security and posture management. The company believes that this move will help them to better address risks and protect their customers against potential threats.
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but reports from Calcalist suggest that Okta will be paying roughly $100 million to $130 million for Spera, subject to certain milestones.
“As the leading identity partner, we remain committed to providing our customers with the necessary tools and knowledge in an ever-changing and challenging environment. We are excited about how Spera Security will complement our ITDR efforts and deliver even more secure outcomes for our customers,” a statement from Okta’s blog reads.
Spera, which was co-founded by entrepreneurs Dor Fledel and Ariel Kadyshevitch, offers a platform that helps identify silos across various software-as-a-service and infrastructure apps. Their technology assists in discovering vulnerabilities within user populations and prioritizing security issues based on regulations, attack vectors, and industry best practices.
In addition, Spera’s services extend beyond security as noted by my colleague Frederic Sheridan in a previous article. Their platform also helps organizations lower their licensing costs by identifying and deactivating dormant accounts.
The acquisition of Spera marks another significant move for Okta, following their previous acquisition of a16z-backed password manager, Uno. It also comes after a successful fiscal quarter for the company, beating Wall Street expectations and solidifying their position in the market as a $6 billion company.
“With Spera, we will provide our customers with enhanced insights and technology to elevate their identity security posture and quickly identify, detect, and remediate any potential risks,” the blog post states further.
The addition of Spera to the Okta platform is expected to help customers better assess their security posture for their identity infrastructure, applications, and services. Moreover, the company believes that this acquisition will attract new customers to their platform, citing research from Gartner predicting that by 2026, 90% of organizations will have an embedded ITDR strategy in place.
Spera, currently with a team of 25 employees, had received $10 million in funding prior to the Okta acquisition. Investors included YL Ventures and prominent angel investors from tech giants such as Google, Palo Alto Networks, Akamai, and Zendesk. The expertise and resources brought by these investors will further enhance Spera’s capabilities and accelerate their growth within the Okta ecosystem.
