Europe’s first dedicated investor in the data and security sector, C5 Capital (www.c5capital.com), have announced a minority equity investment of USD24 million in Omada (www.omada.net), a European provider of identity and access governance (IAG) and identity access management (IAM) software to businesses. This marks the third Investment that C5 Capital has made into the European IT security market and is its largest commitment of funds to date.

This investment reflects C5 Capital’s expectation that the IAG market will continue to evolve and grow at a robust rate. This growth is driven by the increasing risk of cyber- attacks faced by all enterprises; the impact of new and increasing regulation; and the cost benefits that can be derived from the greater automation of the provisioning function.

C5’s investment will fuel Omada’s continued expansion beyond Continental Europe into the UK and United States. It will also fuel sales and marketing activity and enhance the company’s R&D capabilities.

Denmark-headquartered Omada is one of the few European companies featured in Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant for Identity Governance and Administration 2015.”

Omada’s customers comprise blue chip organizations in Europe and the US including BMW Group, Bayer Group, Altria Group, Maersk, HVB Unicredit, DekaBank and ECCO. Omada currently deploys 120 people and has recently announced that it doubled its profits in both 2013 and 2014, growing at an annual rate of over 30%.

Identity and access governance is a core element in an enterprise’s cybersecurity infrastructure, helping to reduce the risk of internal and external security breaches and to prevent data/IP loss. It is used to determine the access rights of employees within an organization, managing a complex web of rights and providing a robust compliance and governance framework. Initially deployed in highly regulated sectors such as financial services and healthcare, data access control and protection is now being more widely applied in other industries such as retail, automotive, manufacturing and the public sector, with the segment experiencing growth of c. 10% per annum.

Nazo Moosa, Managing Partner of C5 Capital, commented on the investment: “Security and safety are being redefined in the 21st century, with technology at its core.

Nazo Moosa, Managing Partner, C5 Capital

Managing access to critical IT systems and sensitive customer data by employees, subcontractors, outsourcers, suppliers and partners has become a cornerstone of enterprise security. The adoption of such technologies is democratising. We see an inflection in the market with organizations outside traditional regulated sectors choosing to adopt IAG solutions. This investment recognizes Omada’s track record of profitable growth and we look forward to joining forces with the management team to accelerate market expansion and support product development initiatives.”

Ms. Moosa outlined the rationale behind C5 Capital and what it offers fast growing businesses in the data and security sector: “C5 Capital launched last year with the objective of exclusively focusing on the fast growth data and security sector and is the only fund of its nature in Europe. We are interested in backing European businesses in this sector, which have the potential and ambition to take advantage of strong market dynamics to grow significantly.”

Morten-Boel-Sigurdsson, CEO, Omada

Morten Boel Sigurdsson, founder and CEO of Omada, said of the investment: “C5’s deep understanding of cybersecurity and ability to add value will help us to solidify our leadership position in the European enterprise security market and beyond”.

“As a fast growth company, it is critical to our success – and to our customers and partners – that we continuously develop our capabilities and invest in products and people. We look forward to working with C5 to shape the future of the IAG/IAM market and to deliver innovative solutions for our customers.”

C5 Capital has also announced the appointment of three experienced technology executives to its Technology Council, which provides strategic and operational advice to the fund’s investments. The three new members include: Simon Church, CEO of NTT Com Security (previously – VP EMEA of Verisign); Dr. John Bates, CMO of TecDax Listed Software AG; and Per Roman, co-founder and managing partner of GP Bullhound LLP.

Source: Omada