This Former Microsoft PM Thinks She Can Unseat CyberArk In 18 Months

Venice Startup Tackles the Modern Permissions Crisis

What is the Venice startup, and why are enterprises paying attention? The Venice startup is a 35-person Israeli-American company tackling the growing crisis of digital permissions for AI agents and automated systems. With $25 million in fresh funding and a bold claim to replace industry giants like CyberArk within 18 months, this identity access management newcomer is positioning itself as the solution for Fortune 500 companies navigating hybrid cloud and legacy environments. As artificial intelligence reshapes how work gets done, the need for secure, scalable identity governance has never been more urgent—and the Venice startup believes it has the architecture to meet that demand.

Credit: Assaf Revivo

Why Identity Access Management Matters for AI Agents

The digital workforce is expanding far beyond human employees. Chatbots, automated scripts, and AI-driven agents now routinely access sensitive systems, creating a complex web of credentials that traditional tools struggle to manage. When permissions aren't properly governed, the risk of breaches, data leaks, or unauthorized actions skyrockets. The Venice startup focuses specifically on this emerging challenge: securing non-human identities without slowing down innovation. By treating AI agents as first-class citizens in identity policy, the platform helps organizations maintain compliance while enabling rapid deployment of intelligent automation. This approach addresses a critical gap that legacy identity systems were never designed to fill.

Former Microsoft PM Leads Venice Startup's Ambitious Mission

At the helm of the Venice startup is Rotem Lurie, a 31-year-old former Microsoft product manager with deep experience in enterprise security and developer tools. Lurie's background informs the company's product-led philosophy: build for the engineer, scale for the enterprise. Her team prioritizes intuitive developer experiences alongside robust governance controls—a balance that resonates with technical teams evaluating new security infrastructure. Under her leadership, the Venice startup has moved quickly from concept to enterprise deployment, securing early adopters among global corporations.  

$25 Million Series A Fuels Venice Startup's Growth Strategy

In December, the Venice startup closed a $25 million Series A round led by IVP, with participation from Index Ventures. This capital infusion supports aggressive hiring, product expansion, and go-to-market efforts targeting large enterprises. Unlike many identity startups that focus exclusively on cloud-native environments, the Venice startup is investing heavily in compatibility with on-premises systems. This strategic choice reflects a clear-eyed view of enterprise reality: most Fortune 500 companies operate hybrid infrastructures that demand flexible, interoperable security tools. The funding also enables the Venice startup to accelerate its roadmap for AI-native identity features, positioning the company at the forefront of the next wave in access management.

Cloud and On-Premises: Venice Startup's Technical Edge

Building a unified identity platform that works seamlessly across cloud and legacy systems is notoriously difficult. Many vendors opt to support only modern environments, leaving enterprises with fragmented toolchains. The Venice startup chose the harder path: a single control plane that governs permissions whether a resource lives in AWS, Azure, a private data center, or a mainframe. This architecture reduces operational overhead for security teams and eliminates blind spots that attackers could exploit. Early customers report that this hybrid capability was a decisive factor in selecting the Venice startup over more narrowly focused alternatives. By solving for complexity upfront, the company is earning trust in environments where reliability is non-negotiable.

How Venice Startup Plans to Replace CyberArk and Okta

The Venice startup isn't just competing on features—it's rethinking the entire workflow of identity governance. Traditional tools often require extensive configuration, manual policy reviews, and siloed dashboards. In contrast, the Venice startup emphasizes automation, real-time visibility, and developer-friendly APIs. Its platform can automatically discover non-human identities, assess risk levels, and enforce least-privilege access without constant human intervention. For enterprises fatigued by cumbersome legacy systems, this shift toward intelligent, proactive security is compelling. The company's 18-month timeline to displace established players reflects confidence in both its technology and its ability to deliver measurable ROI quickly.

What Fortune 500 Companies See in Venice Startup

Early enterprise adopters cite three key advantages when evaluating the Venice startup: speed of deployment, hybrid compatibility, and AI-ready architecture. In pilot programs, security teams have reduced permission review cycles from weeks to hours while improving audit readiness. The platform's ability to integrate with existing identity providers and security information systems minimizes disruption during onboarding. Additionally, as organizations scale their use of AI agents, the Venice startup's native support for machine identities future-proofs their investment. These tangible benefits help explain why large corporations are willing to trial a relatively new vendor in a high-stakes category. Trust is earned through results, and the Venice startup is focused on delivering them consistently.

The Road Ahead for Venice Startup and Enterprise Security

The identity and access management market is evolving rapidly, driven by AI adoption, regulatory pressures, and increasingly sophisticated threats. The Venice startup enters this arena with a clear differentiator: a unified, intelligent platform built for the hybrid, AI-augmented enterprise. Success will depend on executing its product roadmap, scaling customer support, and maintaining the agility that attracted early believers. If the company delivers on its promise to simplify permissions for both human and non-human identities, it could redefine expectations for enterprise security tooling. For now, the Venice startup represents a compelling case study in how focused innovation can challenge entrenched incumbents—and why the future of identity may be more adaptive, automated, and accessible than ever before.