Okta has successfully acquired Auth0, an identity platform for application teams, in an all-stock transaction worth US$6.5 billion, the company announced.
Both tech companies address “a broad set of digital identity use cases, providing secure access and enabling everyone to safely use any technology.”
The acquisition, which spanned eight years, Okta says, will accelerate its growth in the US$80 billion identity market.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Eugenio Pace (pictured left) will helm Auth0 as an independent business unit. He reports directly to Todd McKinnon, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Okta.
Okta and Auth0’s platform will be supported, invested in, and integrated over time, and this move will accelerate innovation and make Okta Identity Cloud more compelling for customers and users.
On the acquisition, McKinnon says: “Identity is one of the most strategic investment that an organisation will have to plan.”
McKinnon declares: “A single, unified identity platform has the power to transform an organisation by providing seamless and secure access for customers and employees.”
McKinnon also lays the possibilities ahead. “Okta and Auth0 have always shared a vision for the identity market. We’re also both cloud-first, customer-first companies. By joining forces, we’ll give our customers more choice and flexibility, driving tremendous value and enabling them to accelerate innovation. Together, we will shape the future of identity on the internet, empowering developers to build with identity at the foundation”, he says.
Pace is “more confident than ever” that Okta and Auth0 will deliver shared vision to secure access for everyone.
Pace says: “Auth0’s focus has always been on enabling product builders to innovate, and now as one company with a shared vision and combined resources, that innovation will only increase.”
Both have “comprehensive, complementary, and flexible identity platforms” that solve every identity use case, regardless of the audience or user.
According to Okta, it pioneered “cloud-based identity, offering enterprise-grade reliability and world-class security while prioritising customer success for organisations.”
Auth0, on the other hand, was built by “developers for developers.” It claims its global builders are “loyal to Auth0 for its extensibility, ease of use, scope of documentation, and developer-friendly experience.”
With combined expertise across developer communities and the enterprise, Okta and Auth0 provide “enhanced depth and breadth of identity solutions and will be even better suited to integrate quickly into the modern tech stack of today’s developers.”
Ken Leung, EVP of Engineering, Kiva, says: “We’re on a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. Identity plays an essential role in making that happen."
Leung says Kiva leverages Auth0 “to provide secure authentication to Kiva’s partners, lenders, and maximises Okta for workforce identity”, giving the team access to critical technologies to best serve millions of global entrepreneurs in their network.
Kiva, Leung says, trusts Okta and Auth0 to “connect our people and technology, and are excited to see how they evolve and innovate together.”
Jay Bretzmann, Program Director for Cybersecurity Products, IDC, concludes: “Credence goes to those who can help us identify one another in a digital world. Both provide cloud-ready developer-friendly tools to help us. They’re building the platforms we need to take the next steps.”
He ends by describing the two companies: “Simple, elegant, and customer-centric.”
