Investor Profile: Okta Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

If you are building in identity or security, here is how to get funding from Okta Ventures. Okta's corporate venture arm launched in April 2019 with a $50 million fund and writes $250,000 to $2 million cheques into 8–10 startups a year. Okta Ventures funding comes with an enviable signal: a portfolio that has produced a string of acquisitions by Proofpoint, Palo Alto Networks, Workday, Motorola Solutions, CrowdStrike and SentinelOne.

The exit record is the fund’s calling card: Tessian to Proofpoint, Dig Security to Palo Alto Networks, VNDLY to Workday, Adaptive Shield and Pangea to CrowdStrike, Prompt Security to SentinelOne — a hit rate that gives the fund unusual credibility with later-stage acquirers.

Thesis and sweet spot

The fund backs identity, security and privacy startups — from developer-first identity infrastructure to AI security. Its "Request for Builders" program issues open calls for startups in five key identity/security focus areas, and the fund deliberately leans into technical founders solving hard authentication and access problems.

Cheque size and fund

The announced fund is $50 million, with typical cheques of $250,000–$2 million and a pace of 8–10 investments per year. The firm has backed 50+ startups to date.

Notable portfolio

Portfolio companies include Trusted Key (the fund's first investment), Tessian (acquired by Proofpoint), Dig Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), Openpath (acquired by Motorola Solutions), VNDLY (acquired by Workday), Adaptive Shield and Pangea (both acquired by CrowdStrike), Prompt Security (acquired by SentinelOne), Drata, Kandji, Immuta and Browserbase.

Partners

Okta Ventures is led by Austin Arensberg (Senior Director; previously led US investments at Scrum Ventures; Kauffman Fellow), announced at launch by Okta co-founder and COO Frederic Kerrest.

Programs, credits and perks

Founders get design partnerships on Okta APIs and SDKs, technical validation from Okta's security teams, and go-to-market leverage through Okta's enterprise customer base and the annual Oktane event.

The fund deliberately backs technical founders solving hard authentication and access problems, with design partnerships on Okta’s APIs and SDKs as a core part of the value-add.

How to apply for funding

Founders can email [email protected] (the address stated on Okta's "Request for Builders" page) or engage via okta.com/okta-ventures. A product with genuine identity or security depth — not a feature bolt-on — is the entry ticket.