Knox, a new startup focused on accelerating the security authorization process for software vendors, today announced it has raised $6.5 million in a seed funding round led by a16z. In addition to Felicis, Ridgeline and FirsthandVC co-led the round. After being instrumental in Class.com’s acquisition of CoSo Cloud, Irina Denisenko founded Knox. Today, Knox is driven to make the complex path to Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certification easy and clear.
Denisenko, who is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), knows the byzantine world of federal compliance inside and out. The certification is no diploma mill – certification typically requires three years of study and an investment of more than $3 million. From that firsthand experience she saw the need, and indeed the necessity, for a greater managed approach. This solution needs to address the shortfalls of the current FedRAMP certification.
Knox’s creation last year was a specific response to the growing national security worries around AI agents. Denisenko saw an opportunity to streamline compliance processes to benefit software vendors. He made the decision to spin the managed cloud solution off into its own venture. The acquisition of CoSo Cloud enabled Class.com to receive FedRAMP certification in just six months, showcasing Denisenko’s capability in navigating the federal compliance landscape.
Knox’s mission is clear: to assist software vendors in accelerating their journey through FedRAMP certification, aiming for completion in as little as three months. The company is bringing all of these services to market for a fraction of the cost. Vendors would invest vastly more if they attempted to develop certification themselves. This low-barrier entry is key for many diverse vendors who need affordable access to the lucrative contracts awarded by the government.
As Denisenko stated, “This stuff is legitimately very hard and very risky. We will bear the risk.” Her dedication to reducing these weights for clients makes Knox an indispensable force in the federal compliance industry.
These days, Knox is the security and compliance solution of choice for major clients like Adobe, Class, Spacelift, and an LLM provider you’d recognize. The firm’s in-house compliance team closely tracks all applications for any software updates and quickly fixes any identified compliance problems. Having had first-hand experience with the difficulties of getting FedRAMP, Denisenko is well aware of the insights that come from their clients’ perspectives.
Knox’s fresh approach is clearly hitting a chord within the industry. Denisenko expects substantial growth in the few months ahead. By the end of this year, Knox is on track to add over a dozen customers. In turn, these clients will heavily utilize its cloud services.
Denisenko is passionate about the fact that Knox could change the game for SaaS vendors looking to crack the code on acquiring FedRAMP certification. As she aptly noted, “Even anthropic couldn’t figure this out on their own,” underscoring the complexity of the compliance landscape.