Okta 收购 AI 安全初创公司 Permiso，消息人士称交易金额约 2 亿美元

Okta 周四同意收购 AI 身份安全初创公司 Permiso Security。该公司押注，随着企业在运营中部署自主软件，对保护 AI Agent 和其他机器身份的需求将持续增长。

这家身份管理公司没有披露交易条款。但据一名了解交易情况的消息人士透露，TechCrunch 获悉，此次收购估值略低于 2 亿美元，且交易结构几乎全部为现金。当 TechCrunch 就该交易向 Okta CEO Todd McKinnon 寻求置评时，Okta 发言人并未否认 2 亿美元这一数字，但公司拒绝评论交易条款的具体细节。

Okta 表示，在满足常规交割条件的前提下，这笔交易预计将于其 2027 财年第三季度完成。

Okta 收购 Permiso 之际，身份管理公司正试图将能力从登录时验证用户身份，扩展至持续监控用户、应用程序和 AI Agent 在获得网络环境授权访问权限后所进行的活动。随着企业将 AI 更深度地嵌入日常运营，这一转变加剧了围绕机器身份安全的竞争。

Permiso 于 2022 年结束隐身模式并公开亮相，其开发的软件可帮助安全团队在用户或应用程序获授访问权限后，发现云环境中的可疑活动。最近，这家初创公司已将其平台扩展至监控 AI Agent 和其他机器身份。

Permiso 由前 FireEye 高管 Paul Nguyen 和 Jason Martin 联合创立，专注于检测攻击者利用被盗或已受损身份在云基础设施中横向移动的攻击。今年 4 月，这家初创公司还推出了 SandyClaw：一个旨在沙箱环境中分析 AI Agent 技能的平台，可在部署前识别恶意行为。

这笔交易加强了 Okta 在其核心身份管理业务之外，保护 AI Agent 及其他非人类身份的布局。

Okta 首席产品官 Ely Kahn 在一份准备好的声明中表示：“Permiso 将通过经过验证的身份威胁检测与响应能力，以及一支卓越的威胁研究和安全团队，扩展 Okta 的身份安全架构；该团队将进一步提升 Okta 的威胁检测和预防能力。”

Permiso 至今已筹集约 2900 万美元资金，其中包括由 Altimeter Capital 领投、于 2024 年 4 月完成的一轮 1850 万美元 A 轮融资。熟悉融资情况的人士表示，该轮 A 轮融资后，这家总部位于帕洛阿尔托的初创公司投后估值约为 8000 万美元。

Okta on Thursday agreed to acquire AI identity security startup Permiso Security, betting that demand for protecting AI agents and other machine identities will grow as enterprises deploy autonomous software across their operations.

The identity management company did not disclose the terms of the transaction. But TechCrunch has learned that the acquisition is valued at just under $200 million and is structured as an almost all-cash deal, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. A spokesperson for Okta did not dispute the $200 million figure when TechCrunch asked CEO Todd McKinnon for comment about the deal, but the company would not comment on specifics of the deal terms.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of its fiscal 2027, Okta said, subject to customary closing conditions.

Okta’s move to buy Permiso comes as identity management companies seek to expand beyond verifying users at login to continuously monitoring what users, applications, and AI agents do once gaining authorized access to a network environment. That shift has intensified competition to secure machine identities as enterprises embed AI deeper into everyday operations.

Permiso, which emerged from stealth in 2022, develops software that helps security teams spot suspicious activity in cloud environments after users or applications have been granted access. More recently, the startup has expanded its platform to monitor AI agents and other machine identities.

Co-founded by former FireEye executives Paul Nguyen and Jason Martin, Permiso specializes in detecting attacks that use stolen or compromised identities to move through cloud infrastructure. In April, the startup also introduced SandyClaw, a platform designed to analyze AI agent skills in a sandboxed environment to identify malicious behavior before they are deployed.

The deal strengthens Okta’s push into securing AI agents and other non-human identities alongside its core identity management business.

“Permiso will extend Okta’s identity security fabric with proven identity threat detection and response capabilities, and an incredible threat research and security team that will advance Okta’s threat detection and prevention capabilities,” Okta’s chief product officer Ely Kahn said in a prepared statement.

Permiso has raised about $29 million to date, including an $18.5 million Series A round in April 2024 led by Altimeter Capital. People familiar with the financing said the Series A valued the Palo Alto-based startup at about $80 million on a post-money basis.