In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the proliferation of non-human identities—digital entities like API keys, service accounts, and tokens—has introduced new security vulnerabilities. These NHIs often possess extensive permissions and, if compromised, can serve as entry points for cyber attackers. Clutch Security is at the forefront of addressing these challenges by providing a comprehensive platform dedicated to the protection and management of NHIs.

Founded in late 2023, Clutch Security has gained a reputation as one of the fastest-growing companies in the cybersecurity sector. The company was founded by:

• Ofir Har-Chen (CEO): former COO at Hunters and former cybersecurity expert at Sygnia.
• Sagi Haas (CTO): former Axonius employee
• Tal Kimhi (VP of R&D): former Axonius employee.

With a team of 30 professionals operating from offices in Tel Aviv and the United States, Clutch has developed a platform that offers real-time visibility and management of NHIs across various infrastructures, including cloud, SaaS, and on-premises environments.

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Details of the Funding Round

Clutch Security declared it had closed its Series A funding round to the tune of $20 million. Its first round is led by SignalFire alongside major contributions from existing investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners and Merlin Ventures. This injection of cash puts Clutch’s total funding at $28.5 million, reflecting how well investors believe in the mission and its technological innovations.

Objectives for the New Funding

The newly acquired funds are earmarked for several strategic initiatives:

• Platform Enhancement: Investing in research and development to further refine and expand the capabilities of Clutch’s NHI security platform.
• Market Expansion: Accelerating go-to-market efforts to broaden Clutch’s presence in key regions, particularly in North America and Europe.
• Talent Acquisition: Growing the team by attracting top-tier talent in cybersecurity and related fields to drive innovation and support scaling operations.

These initiatives aim to solidify Clutch’s position as a leader in NHI security and address the escalating threats associated with machine identities.

Read also: Token Security raises $20M to Fortify Machine Identity Protection

The digital transformation across industries has led to an exponential increase in NHIs, which now outnumber human identities by a ratio of 45:1. These NHIs are integral to various automated processes and services but often lack adequate security measures, making them attractive targets for cybercriminals. 

Traditional security systems have primarily focused on human identities, leaving a significant gap in the protection of machine identities. Clutch Security addresses this gap by providing a platform that offers comprehensive visibility, management, and protection of NHIs, thereby reducing the attack surface and mitigating potential risks. 

Clutch Security Technological Advancements

Clutch’s platform uses a Zero Trust architecture that requires continuous verification for every access request, irrespective of its origin. The main attributes of the platform are:

• Real-Time Visibility: NHIs continuously monitored across all environments to display their status and interactions.
• Lifecyle Management: Automatically manages NHIs from creation up to decommissioning to delete outdated or unneeded identities immediately.
• Risk Assessment: Proactive identification and mitigation of potential risks associated with NHIs, including unauthorized access and over-permissioned accounts.
• Policy Enforcement: Enforcement of security policies designed in relation to an organization’s specific needs for the NHIs. Such enforcement proves to be within organizational standards and regulations.

These innovations enable organizations to have their NHIs properly under control, avoiding or lowering the possibilities of security breaches in place, thus maintaining the digital ecosystem integrity of any organization.

Read also: DryRun Security raises $8.7M to AI-driven Application Security

Investor Insights

The investors involved in this funding round have expressed strong support for Clutch’s mission and technology:

• SignalFire: Recognizes the critical need to protect NHIs and is excited to lead Clutch Security’s $20 million Series A, highlighting the company’s innovative approach to NHI security.
• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Continues to support Clutch’s vision of redefining how enterprises secure machine identities, acknowledging the company’s significant progress and potential in the cybersecurity landscape.
• Merlin Ventures: It emphasizes that securing non-human identities is no longer optional in corporate cybersecurity strategies—it is a critical component that protects an organization’s digital backbone.

Read also: Axoflow Secures $7 Million to Enhance Security Data Curation

Future Prospects

The successful completion of the Series A funding round puts Clutch Security in a great position to improve its platform and expand its market reach. The company will focus on:

• Product Development: Continuing innovations as well as improvement in capabilities to stay on pace with the new emerging threat.
• Strategic Partnerships: Alliances with key industry players that will create broader adoption and integration of the platform.