ForgeRock raises $88 million in Series D round for further growth

Digital identity management firm ForgeRock has raised $88 million in a Series D round led by Accel with participation from KKR.

First founded in Norway and now based in San Francisco, ForgeRock will invest the new funds in further development of the ForgeRock Identity Platform and plans to grow from 400 employees to 500 by the end of the year.

According to the company, it had sales of over $100 million in 2016. Its clients include HSBC, Amer Sports, and SiriusXM.

The growth of IOT and forthcoming data protection regulations is putting more responsibility on companies to better manage their data.

“The next 12 months will be exciting, as global regulatory frameworks for data and privacy are evolving rapidly, at the same time the IoT is reaching critical mass,” said Mike Ellis, CEO of ForgeRock. “ForgeRock empowers businesses to respond to and comply with these regulations and enable great digital customer experiences.”

As part of the investment, Arun Mathew, partner at Accel and Dave Welsh, head of TMT growth equity at KKR have joined ForgeRock’s board of directors.

“ForgeRock is the pioneer in digital identity and is clearly leading the pack,” commented Mathew.

“Mike Ellis and the ForgeRock team have done an outstanding job in delivering a premier innovative digital identity platform to a world-class roster of brand name customers, while growing the company with a strong culture dedicated to excellence,” commented Welsh.

ForgeRock recently appointed new chief security officer, Steve White, formerly of Sonos, CenturyLink Cloud, Amazon, and cyber units of the US Air Force.

"Identity is everything. Every discussion around security and how to empower individuals starts with the notion of authenticated identity, whether it’s related to developing government or business policy around data or the EU developing policy around consumer privacy," added Bruce Golden, partner at Accel. "ForgeRock is the most influential company in the identity ecosystem, and we’re delighted to continue to back the best team in this space as they shape the market.”