It’s official! BeyondID has been acquired by KeyData Cyber, a North American leader in Identity and Access Management (IAM).
This acquisition establishes a pure-play leader in total identity security, with more than 200 identity experts across 3 continents. A leader that can deliver industry-centric, identity solutions across across all leading identity platforms, including Okta, CyberArk, Sailpoint, Saviynt, Microsoft, BeyondTrust and Ping Identity. Not just IAM solutions, but Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity Governance (IGA), and AI-powered Managed Identity Security Services.
Together, BeyondID and KeyData Cyber create the global identity partner CISOs need to support them across any identity platform and any identity type (from humans to machines and AI agents), for a secure total experience.
You can read more about the announcement in the press release here.
The Initial Partnership and Our First Investment
As we celebrate this next phase of BeyondID’s journey, I can’t help but reflect back on the partnership that Tercera and BeyondID have built over the last five years.
It was 2020 when I met Arun Shrestha, the CEO of an Okta implementation partner named BeyondID, through former colleagues who were at Okta. At the time, Arun and his co-founders were only a few years into building BeyondID and they weren’t actively looking to take on capital. We hadn’t even officially launched Tercera yet, but were starting to have conversations. The chemistry and connection was instantaneous.
Both Arun and I had led captive professional services organizations within software companies. Arun had led customer success and services at Okta, prior to starting BeyondID. I had been the CIO and head of worldwide services at Borland Software implementing Salesforce, prior to founding Appirio. We had both led teams within integration companies – Arun at SeeBeyond, and me at Webmethods. Through these experiences, we had seen first-hand the potential of getting in early with an ISV, and bonded over the value of channel relationships, customer obsession, and what it took to build global, distributed teams.
Less than five months later, BeyondID became Tercera’s first investment. The firm was the perfect fit for Tercera’s thesis to support next generation IT services firms in high growth software ecosystems and market segments, through a mix of capital, counsel and connections. Looking back at our original investment memo, these were the reasons we were so excited about BeyondID at the time:
A great position in a large and growing market (IAM): At the time, IAM was a $12 billion market, growing consistently in the double digits. Cloud-focused vendors and partners were outpacing the broader market as companies moved their operations online – especially during COVID – and identity and zero-trust security were poised to become increasingly important in a growing threat landscape. The BeyondID team had proven experience and connections here.
A potential #1 partner in a Tercera 30 ecosystem: At the time of our investment, Okta was an early innovator in SaaS security with $770 million in LTM revenue. It was growing ~50% per year, and really starting to build out their partner ecosystem as they looked toward enterprise customers, global expansion and platform diversification. BeyondID was already one of Okta’s top partners, and with investment could scale alongside this Market Mover.
Tech-enabled and IP-centric: Even as a young firm, BeyondID recognized the value and differentiation that came from IP. They had begun building out their Identity Command Center and packaged Integration-as-a-Service offerings that connected Okta with business critical apps like EPIC, Shopify, ADP and SAP. This was a big differentiator with enterprise customers, and with investment, they had plans to expand on this IP into new areas.
Over the next four years, we’ve seen identity remain a top CISO priority – even more so with the acceleration in AI. Okta has continued to be a great partner. Even through the SaaS-lash of 2022 and 2023, Okta grew its footprint and invested in their partner ecosystem. The company reported ~$2.6 billion in FY25 revenue, and has grown its partner ecosystem more than 4x since we first invested, building partnerships with many of the GSIs.
BeyondID has serviced thousands of clients, including names like Northern Trust, Airbnb, Johnson Financial Group and Biogen; and they were named an Okta Partner of the Year for the last three years.
The Next Phase in the Journey
As the BeyondID team looked to the future, they knew the company needed scale, even more industry depth and a broader mix of platform capabilities to hit that next stage of growth, and service larger and larger accounts.
Enter KeyData Cyber, a company that couldn’t be more complementary to BeyondID. Both firms share a vision around identity-first security. Both firms have expertise in complex identity engagements, with clients in highly-regulated industries like financial services, healthcare and public sector. Both firms have complementary strengths, partnerships and regional footprints.
Together, they can do more. They can be the partner CISOs need to deliver on identity-first, zero-trust strategies across multiple platforms and geographies.
Relationships Matter
All this is a reminder to me that great partnerships don’t just happen. They’re built and fostered over time, through the best of times and the worst of times.
The BeyondID co-founders initially connected at former companies, before coming together to build this company. Without our friends at Okta, we may have never met Arun and team. Support from leaders like Eric Kelleher, Chael Banks and Susan St. Ledger, along with many others, have been instrumental in driving growth over the years.
Without the introduction from Houlihan Lokey, we may not have made the connection with the KeyData Cyber team and their investors at CIVC. And we may have not fully realized the potential of this combination without the support and insights from strong board members like BeyondID’s independent director Toni Pavlovich and KeyData Cyber’s independent director Sam Sliman, along with advisors like Mike Epner.
Last, but certainly not least, I am so appreciative of the partnership that the Tercera team built with Arun and his broader leadership team over the years. Thank you for taking a bet on us when we were just getting started, all the learnings and fun times along the way.
We couldn’t be more excited to expand on this partnership and be part of the next phase in this team’s journey as both a minority investor and advisor working alongside KeyData Cyber CEO Dustin Hoff and CIVC.
If you want to get a sense for what’s next, check out the blog from Arun and this overview from KeyData Cyber.
Onward!
