Clutch Security, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup, has launched its Universal Non-Human Identity (NHI) Security platform and raised $8.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Merlin Ventures, Cyber Club London (CCL), and prominent industry leaders and angel investors. Founded in late 2023 by Ofir Har-Chen, Sagi Haas, and Tal Kimhi, Clutch Security aims to deliver end-to-end NHI security and proactively bridge security gaps across organizational landscapes without affecting business velocity.
The company employs 20 people at its offices in Tel Aviv. The proliferation of NHIs, which include API keys, secrets, tokens, and service accounts, within enterprises presents unique management and security challenges. The rapid rise of AI has further driven the exponential growth of NHIs, with enterprises deploying AI at scale, leading to a 1:45 human-to-non-human ratio.
Clutch launches NHI security platform
Clutch’s platform assists security teams by providing complete visibility into any NHI type across the organizational landscape. This includes risk identification and prioritization based on severity and business impact, as well as tailored, actionable remediation playbooks to address identified risks effectively.
“We spent decades on the frontlines assisting organizations in contending with cyber attacks and witnessed the emergence of Non-Human Identity threats and their devastating impact,” said Co-Founder & CEO Ofir Har-Chen. “We built Clutch to equip security teams with a universal solution delivering complete visibility, context, security, and management for all NHIs, helping them not only to identify risks early and remediate effectively, but also to proactively strengthen their defenses while certifying and verifying NHIs.”
The modern technology stack spans cloud services, software-as-a-service applications, on-premises software, digital vaults, code repositories, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, and data warehouses, making identity and access management complex due to the need to manage both human and non-human identities. Adversaries target NHIs because they are widespread and often have elevated privileges.
Clutch’s innovative approach positions it to tackle the growing challenges associated with managing and securing NHIs in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. The newly acquired funds are earmarked for team expansion and broader market penetration, as the company aims to enhance its offerings and scale operations to meet increasing demand in the cybersecurity space.
