Deep Identity, a Singapore-based startup that helps companies manage access to their internal networks and services, has raised US$470,000 (SG$589,000) to expand its services into the cloud and open a presence in Europe.
The funding was provided by early-stage investor Get2volume, which will incubate Deep Identity, with co-funding from the Singapore National Research Foundation.
Deep Identity describes itself as an access management startup that is focused on identity and data governance. That essentially means, in more basic terms, that its software helps companies and enterprises manage staff access to information on their network.
Far from a trivial matter, Deep Identity director Sivakumar Balasubramanian told me that some 60 percent of company fraud cases are based on erroneous entitlements. Failing to deactivate a former employee’s accounts or access levels could grant them the ability to get hold of sensitive information, he explained as an example.
Deep Identity products also cover auditing and compliance, and data management, aside from its core offering of identity management.
No Plans For The U.S. Yet
The startup has a number of significant customers in Asia — including the Singapore Police and Singapore Power — and it intends to use this funding to open a sales presence in London in January to increase its efforts in Europe.
The U.S. isn’t a focus at this point, Balasubramanian said. That step is for sometime in the future, and it will require more funding.
“In the identity government space, most vendors are from the U.S. so that makes the North American market a more competitive space. Entering requires that you spend more time and money, while you need to execute perfectly in such a large and important market to build your reputation there,” he added.
Europe and the rest of Asia is a sizable market for now, and Balasubramanian said the plan is to build Deep Identity’s ecosystem in these two regions. The startup plans to increase its own headcount from 18 to over 50 in the coming six month period, most new hires will be located in Singapore, however.
Entering The Cloud
The new capital will also go towards developing its core service. Deep Identity is preparing to support bring-your-own-device (Android and iOS), and it wants to host its products in the cloud and provide managed services.
The advantage of the latter two would be that potential new customers could easily sample its services without needing to go down the lengthy route of product cycles, which Balasubramanian said can run into millions of dollars and take years to complete.
“With cloud, you know what you get without committing considerable time and resources,” he explained. “Plus customers have the option to get the latest functionalities without going through further on-site implementation.”
Balasubramanian said the cloud service is already being developed by Deep Indentity’s technical team in India, and it should be available to customers in the first half of 2015.
“Our competitors are the big names — like IBM and Oracle — but a major part of our appeal is to be closer to our customers, and constantly innovate to offer them more — such as connecting to target systems, and the granular level of our entitlements,” Balasubramanian added.
“Identity management, audit, and compliances has become a critical enterprise IT requirement. Deep Identity’s success with their identity management solutions in Singapore demonstrates significant opportunity.” said Mike Holt, CEO Get2Volume, in a statement.