Oak nabs $60M for AI-native identity platform

Most organizations still have no clear answer to a simple question: who, or what, is accessing their systems right now. Oak, an Israeli cybersecurity startup, has raised $60 million to solve that blind spot, betting that the rise of AI agents will turn this problem into a crisis.

The company emerged from stealth with this seed round, positioning itself as the builder of an “identity operating system.” The idea is a single control plane that governs every identity inside a business, whether that identity belongs to a person, a machine, or an autonomous AI agent.

Identity is the front door to any organization, making it the prime target for attackers. But most companies rely on a fragmented collection of outdated tools built for human employees and slow, predictable systems. The explosion of machine accounts and agent identities has simply outpaced those tools.

Oak aims to replace that mess. Its software plugs into any system, builds a live map of every identity based on actual behavior, and automatically revokes access that is no longer in use. The key difference is that it operates in real time, not through an annual audit.

The real bet here is on the team. CEO Shai Morag has already founded and sold three security companies, including Ermetic, which Tenable acquired for $265 million in 2023. His total exit value across those ventures is around $500 million.

“Our vision is to be born as a giant,” Morag said. He told his wife that Oak would be his last company. “I will go big or go home.”

The round was co-led by Accel, Greylock, and CRV, and was first reported by Calcalist. It ranks among the largest seed rounds ever raised by an Israeli cybersecurity firm. Oak already employs about 50 people and counts paying enterprise customers.

Oak is far from alone in this space. Identity has become one of the hottest battlegrounds in security, and the big players are moving fast. Palo Alto Networks recently agreed to acquire CyberArk, a clear signal of how valuable this category has become.

The catalyst is AI. As agents begin to act independently, the industry is scrambling to figure out how to assign them an identity. Researchers have already tricked agents into leaking proprietary code and even launching a ransomware attack. Companies are racing to control these bots before the problem spreads.

Oak’s bet is that every identity, from employee logins to Alexa-style assistants, will eventually be managed under a single system. Morag believes the winners in this space will be worth “tens and even hundreds of billions.”