Ockam Secures $4.9M in Seed Funding

Today we are excited to announce a major milestone in the evolution of Ockam. We closed $4.9 million in seed funding from a group of world class investors: Future Ventures, Core Venture Group, Okta Ventures, and SGH Capital. These additional resources will accelerate our mission: to enable the builders who are ushering in our shared vision of a seamless connected world.

Since inception we have forged our vision for a seamless connected world into a suite of products that democratize secure IoT development. As Ockam CTO Mrinal Wadhwa states in his often cited lecture on building autonomous systems, "for far too long, it's been exceptionally difficult and expensive to build secure connected device systems." These additional capital resources allow us to increase the pace at which we roll out new functionality to the Ockam system, and extend the depth to which we can help builders of IoT systems tackle their complex challenges.

The Team

Our team philosophy is central to our values at Ockam – so much so that we refer to "The Team" as a proper noun. As Ockam CEO Matthew Gregory notes, "Since the very earliest days of Ockam, we've consistently and continuously coalesced a community that shares our vision of a seamless connected world. We're grateful for all the support we've received from mentors, advisors, customers, partners, analysts and press. The group of investors participating in this round takes the The Team to the next level."

Future Ventures

We are thrilled to be working with the amazing team of Maryanna Saenko and Steve Jurvetson of their newly launched Future Ventures. They have pushed us to think big, and have the technical depth to grasp the complexity of the challenges that face connected device and IoT builders. We are bolstered by the fact that we share a common thesis. Maryanna notes, "The security challenges associated with IoT are staggering. In Ockam we recognized a team capable of building a world of connected systems we can actually trust. Their collective knowledge and experience puts them miles ahead in the field." Maryanna has also joined Ockam's Board of Directors.

Core Ventures Group

We are excited to be working with Joanna Drake Earl, General Partner of Core Ventures Group, who brings hands-on operational expertise to The Team. Core's focus on founders and their engaged investment model are a great fit for The Team. On working with Ockam, Joanna notes, "We are excited to invest in Ockam's vision. Their approach to addressing a real world problem is a testament to the strength and diversity of the founding team. We are thrilled to be backing such a passionate group of builders."

Okta Ventures

As Ockam CEO Matthew Gregory explains in his thesis on the IoT development trends, we believe the development of the connected device ecosystem will evolve in a similar way to what we experienced over the past decade with the cloud. Builders will see open source innovations become available in their connected applications. As a Heroku veteran, this viewpoint was molded by Matthew's experience building the Heroku Add-ons ecosystem which is a contrast to the status quo in IoT. On empowering developers, Matthew notes, "Every application is different, and has its own challenges. We believe the best way to empower developers is to enable them with tools that allow them to assemble the very best stack for their application. They will use Ockam to create their Trust Architecture and to secure that entire stack.

In Okta, we have a great partner who aligns with this vision: "Ockam shares our fundamental belief that trust begins with identity, and that integration and partnerships are essential to building trust across the ecosystem. Both Okta and Ockam have a partner-driven ethos, which is apparent in how we build our products, collaborate with partners, and empower the developer ecosystem," said Monty Gray, SVP, Corporate Development, Okta. "We look forward to partnering with the Ockam team as they extend identity to IoT and work to secure the devices of the future."