How Okta Ventures supports startups with integrations to drive enterprise readiness

Okta has launched over 168 secure Identity integrations with popular enterprise SaaS applications to strengthen security beyond basic single sign-on (SSO)​. At Okta Ventures, we support founders and startups eager to build products that can leverage security by design to empower and grow their businesses. 

The pre-built integrations in the Okta Integration Network offer SSO, automated user lifecycle management, and advanced security capabilities (like risk-based sign-on and session control). Startups can build integrations like these to centralize authentication, eliminate manual account management, and improve their overall security posture with minimal effort. 

Identity is a business enabler

Embedding robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) into a SaaS offering is crucial for winning enterprise customers. By integrating with Okta, SaaS apps can meet enterprise demand for Identity Security, land more enterprise deals, and expedite time to value. Okta Ventures is committed to helping our portfolio capitalize on the fact that strong security isn’t just protection — it’s a selling point for SaaS in the enterprise market.

Okta enables SaaS providers to integrate modern Identity Security measures (SSO, multi-factor authentication (MFA), lifecycle management, etc.) directly into their apps, helping meet enterprise requirements and protect against Identity-based threats​. By partnering with Okta Ventures, portfolio companies can land more enterprise deals, ensure compliance, and deliver strong security capabilities to customers.​

By building secure Identity integrations, startups drastically improve their authentication and Identity management maturity with minimal overhead. The common thread across these integrations is centralization and automation: Okta becomes the single control plane for access, enforcing strong authentication and automatically propagating user changes to every connected app. This yields tangible security gains — fewer passwords, universal MFA, immediate deprovisioning, and real-time threat response — which collectively harden a startup’s defenses against account compromise and unauthorized access​.

These integrations also bring practical efficiency, as they’re built using open industry standards that eliminate manual user setup in each app and reduce errors. Startups can thus move faster (onboarding users in minutes, embracing new tools confidently) while staying secure by design. In essence, Okta’s Secure Identity Integrations let even a small company leverage best-in-class Identity practices: from SSO and lifecycle automation that prevent misconfigurations and “Identity sprawl,” to emerging capabilities like risk signal sharing and session termination that proactively contain threats​. The result is an enhanced security posture and simplified IT — a crucial combination for high-growth startups building out their tech stack.

Startups take advantage of Okta Ventures partnership

Below are examples of Okta Ventures portfolio companies that built key integrations with Okta to strengthen Identity Security and drive additional value for their enterprise customers. 

1. SSO: Provide dynamic authentication, including passwordless authentication provided by FastPass, device trust, and granular posture access requirements.

Standards-based SSO — SaaS apps can integrate once with Okta to get enterprise-grade SSO, allowing customers to centrally manage access policies for the app via their existing Identity provider​. This ensures consistent authentication policies (like passwordless login or MFA requirements) are applied, and it spares the SaaS vendor from having to build a custom SSO solution. Numerous startups in Okta Venture’s portfolio utilize SSO for their businesses.

Kandji is an Apple device management platform for enterprises​. It allows IT and infosec teams to centrally manage and secure their fleet of Apple devices — enforcing security policies, keeping apps and operating systems up to date, and automating employee lifecycle tasks on Mac.

Kandji has multiple integrations with Okta to improve identity and device security. Through its Okta SSO integration, Kandji enforces secure access for Mac administrators​. For example, an admin can sign in to Kandji using Okta SSO. Okta can sync with Kandji to ensure a user’s Mac password stays in harmony with their Okta credentials. Kandji worked with Okta on Device Trust integrations — ensuring only Kandji-managed, compliant Apple devices can access Okta-protected applications​. Additionally, Kandji built an Okta Workflows Connector for automated lifecycle tasks.

Allbirds is one notable customer that utilized the Okta-Kandji SSO integration. Watch below to hear from their IT team on how their work processes were streamlined. By pairing Kandji with Okta, Allbirds was able to automate Mac deployment and user access, enhancing both productivity and security. In this short video, Allbirds’ IT team describes how integrating Okta and Kandji improved their device onboarding and Identity management, illustrating the partnership’s real-world benefits.

2. SCIM / LCM: Securely automate the provisioning or deprovisioning of a user to enable apps for joiner, mover, leaver 

User Lifecycle Management ensures that when users join or leave an organization (or change roles), those changes propagate to every connected SaaS app in a secure, timely way. This prevents “orphaned accounts and shadow directories” that could be exploited.​

OLOID is an Okta Ventures portfolio company and SaaS platform modernizing physical IAM for the “frontline industries.” It provides touchless, secure access solutions (like facial authentication, RFID badge-based authentication, or QR codes) for authenticating into frontline environments​. OLOID bridges enterprise Identity systems with physical access control and timekeeping systems.

OLOID’s platform integrates deeply with Okta to unify physical and digital identities. Through the OLOID-Okta integration, frontline workers can use shared or dedicated kiosk devices to log in to Okta-managed apps and resources using OLOID’s passwordless authentication​. OLOID uses Okta’s APIs for SCIM provisioning and directory sync: for instance, new employees created in Okta can be automatically provisioned into OLOID to grant access to shared devices. Conversely, OLOID’s badge or biometric verification can be a factor for Okta (e.g. a factory worker logs into an Okta app via a face scan at a kiosk). This integration modernizes authentication for workers without personal devices or corporate logins. 

OLOID and Okta have partnered to deliver shared customers like Flex and Tyson Foods critical value in managing their workforces. Watch here to see how OLOID worked with Okta to expand workforce enablement of frontline workers with Tyson Foods:

3. Universal Logout: Enables integrations to terminate a user's session for supported apps when a change in risk is detected.

Universal Logout / Session Management provides the ability to instantly revoke user sessions across the environment when a threat is detected​. This feature mitigates risks in real time (for example, automatically logging a user out of all devices if their credentials are compromised elsewhere). It’s a strong security measure that limits damage from account breaches.

Cerby, an Okta Ventures portfolio company, is an Identity Security automation platform for disconnected apps — those outside the reach of Identity providers. These applications — which lack native support for SAML, SCIM, or API-based integrations — create security gaps and force IT teams into manual workarounds. Cerby’s integration with Okta extends SSO, MFA, and Identity lifecycle management to all of your connected and disconnected apps, bringing SaaS, on-prem, and legacy systems under a unified access control framework..

In addition to Cerby’s listed integration that lets organizations enable secure authentication and authorization for non‑SAML/OIDC applications, the Cerby team worked with Okta to implement Universal Logout for disconnected applications. This allows users to sign out of any application session, including those that wouldn’t typically terminate on Okta logout​. By closing this security gap, this partnership extends Okta’s Identity platform to protect all of your business-critical applications, delivering greater security, control, and compliance.

Cerby and Okta are using their security integrations to drive value to shared customers including Colgate Palmolive. Watch this video to see how Okta and Cerby’s integrations support their work. 

Explore more Okta partnerships

Okta Ventures partners closely with early-stage startups seeking to capitalize on Okta’s ecosystem of security integrations. Our partnership accelerates startups’ go-to-market in enterprises. But the value of the Okta Integration Network isn’t limited to Okta Ventures portfolio companies. Any startup can access a marketplace of pre-built integrations; by publishing a SaaS integration to the Okta Integration Network, developers gain exposure to Okta’s 19,000-plus customers and a “single operating system” for SaaS management. Okta is the definitive platform that connects SaaS builders and SaaS consumers within a secure, interoperable app ecosystem.