Israeli startup Axis Security emerges from stealth mode with $17 million Series A

Axis Security, an Israeli startup working on private application access, has emerged from stealth mode with a $17 million Series A round, launching a purpose-built, cloud-based security and analytics platform that gives organizations control over private application access.

Ten Eleven Ventures’ Alex Doll led the round, joined by Cyberstarts, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Imperva, among others. Angel investors include Dan Amiga, founder of Fireglass, and board of director member Michael Fey, former president of Symantec and Blue Coat. 

Built on a zero trust approach, the startup’s Axis Application Access Cloud offers an agentless model that connects users on any device to private apps, without touching the network or the applications. This separation shrinks the attack surface, or reduces the chances of a cyberattack. “Existing approaches to secure application access are network focused, and primarily use a VPN — posing a lot of difficulty when connecting and managing partners. The ability to circumvent the network to access applications makes a lot more sense for third parties, employees and security teams,” explained Richard Stiennon, founder of IT Harvest and author of Security Yearbook 2020: A History and Directory of the IT Security Industry.

With research and development in Tel Aviv and headquarters in San Mateo, California, Axis Security has developed its product over the last 18 months. Now released as a SaaS tool, the company claims to have "multiple Fortune 500 customers" already. “Enabling access to the basic tools of digital transformation should not be one of the biggest risks an organization takes,” said Dor Knafo, co-founder and CEO. “We’re giving IT teams what they’ve been lacking when it comes to applications and that is a single managed solution for access, security, control, and scalability without the complexity.”