ForgeRock Lands $88M In Funding To Expand R&D, Sales Of Identity, IoT Security Solutions

ForgeRock has landed $88 million in Series D funding, which the company says it will put towards sales and product development as the market for Internet of Things security and identity heats up.

The new round of funding, announced Tuesday, was led by existing investor Accel and new investor KKR. Other investors included Meritech Capital Partners and Foundation Capital, the company said.

San Francisco, Calif.-based ForgeRock looks to help companies secure identity and access management for the new wave of cloud, mobile and Internet of Things devices. The company has now raised more than $140 million in funding to date, as well as added former FireEye CEO Dave DeWalt as vice chairman.

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Philippe Monrougie, partner and CEO at Hub City Media, a South Plainfield, N.J.-based ForgeRock partner, said the new funding is "very positive" for the company. He said it is especially validating to see existing investors "double down" on the investment and to see new investors jumping in.

Monrougie said he has already seen ForgeRock expanding its sales and marketing efforts, including adding new sales executives in different regions. He said he hopes the new round of funding will help further fuel that growth, as well as provide investment for continued innovation.

"This kind of money Is very valuable," Monrougie said. "Taking this and just doubling down right now I think makes sense. We're happy about it as a partner – how could we not be?"

Forgerock said it will look to put the funding towards global expansion, with focus on sales and marketing. That growth includes growing its headcount from 400 in early 2017 to more than 500 by the end of the year.

ForgeRock said it will also look to fund further product development, particularly around its ForgeRock Identity Platform.

’This investment speaks to significant market validation and our ambition to build a durable, category-defining company that shapes the future of identity, privacy and access management. The next 12 months will be exciting, as global regulatory frameworks for data and privacy are evolving rapidly, at the same time the IoT is reaching critical mass. ForgeRock empowers businesses to respond to and comply with these regulations and enable great digital customer experiences," CEO Mike Ellis said in a statement.

The investment also comes as the markets for both identity and Internet of Things security heat up. Hub City Media's Monrougie said ForgeRock has a bit of a head start in those markets, as it has a strong technology and scale in those markets. ForgeRock reported sales in FY2016 of $100 million. Monrougie said the new round of funding should only help secure that position for the company.

"This is definitely a little bit of an arms race. I think ForgeRock is way out in front," Monrougie said. "This kind of scale is hard to get. A lot of the players working on internal identity and access for years, but how many of those big platform vendors can also do the massive scaling required in an IoT environment? I think that they are already out in front and this [funding] just further propels them."