🔦 Spotlight
Happy Friday, Los Angeles.
The newest employee in the office does not need a desk, a salary or a coffee order. But it may have access to your company’s emails, financial records, customer data and software systems.
That raises a fairly important question: Who decides what an AI agent is allowed to do?
El Segundo-based cybersecurity company Saviynt is building its next chapter around the answer.
Carrick Capital Partners announced this week that it closed a $600M continuation vehicle for Saviynt, including a new $255M investment in the company. The transaction allowed Carrick’s existing investors to either take liquidity or remain invested, while also providing liquidity to Saviynt employees through a tender offer.
Continuation vehicles are not exactly known for making gripping Friday reading. The company behind this one is considerably more interesting.
Saviynt develops identity security software that helps businesses determine who can access their applications, data and infrastructure. Increasingly, however, “who” does not refer exclusively to a person.
Companies are deploying AI agents that can retrieve information, write code, communicate with customers and complete multistep tasks with limited supervision. These digital workers need access to company systems to be useful, but every new permission also creates another opportunity for sensitive information to be exposed or an unintended action to be taken.
In other words, AI agents may be tireless employees. They are not necessarily trustworthy ones.
Saviynt is addressing that problem through Zuma, its platform for discovering, securing and governing AI agents, large language models and other nonhuman identities alongside a company’s human workforce. The goal is to give businesses one place to determine what every identity can access, whether it belongs to an employee, a contractor, a software application or an autonomous agent operating at machine speed.
The opportunity appears to be growing quickly. Saviynt has surpassed $300M in annual recurring revenue, up from approximately $10M when Carrick first invested. The company says bookings have increased by more than 80% this year while customer retention remains at 96%.
The new investment was completed as part of the final close of Saviynt’s previously announced $700M Series B, which valued the company at approximately $3B. Carrick’s continuation vehicle was led by Coller Capital and co-led by HSBC Asset Management, giving the investment firm more time and capital to remain behind one of its strongest-performing companies.
For Saviynt, the funding will support further development of its identity platform, deeper integrations with major cloud and software providers and its push to become a central security layer for the agentic workplace.
That ambition reflects a broader change taking place inside companies. The first wave of enterprise AI focused largely on what the technology could generate. The next phase is about what it can actually do, and whether businesses can maintain control once AI moves from answering questions to taking action.
Saviynt is betting that identity will become the gatekeeper.
AI agents are gaining access to the digital workplace, whether corporate security teams are ready for them or not.
Someone still has to hold the keys.
More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.
🤝 Venture Deals
LA Venture Funds
- Fulcrum Ventures participated in Critical Materials Group’s $10.3M seed round, led by Overmatch Ventures and joined by Victory Six Advisors. The Austin-based defense manufacturer will use the funding to develop and commission modular, automation-ready production systems designed to expand domestic manufacturing capacity for munitions and advanced energetic materials. - learn more
- Fusion VC participated in Newlight’s $9M seed round alongside lomarlabs, BIRD Energy, Undeterred Capital and CiRi Ventures. The San Francisco-based maritime technology company recently demonstrated its hydrogen-hybrid retrofit on an 8,500-nautical-mile commercial voyage, reducing fuel consumption by 24% and carbon dioxide emissions by 28%. - learn more
- Rebel Fund participated in Metal’s $4.5M seed round alongside a16z, Y Combinator, Gaingels, Indus Valley Capital, Phaze Ventures and Pioneer Fund. Metal will use the funding to build an AI-native operating system that helps founders identify relevant investors, manage outreach and automate other parts of the venture fundraising process. - learn more
- UP.Partners participated in Reframe Systems’ $40M funding round, led by Energy Impact Partners and joined by Counterpart Ventures, E12 Ventures, Global Brain, Thin Line Capital and LACI Impact Fund. The homebuilding startup will use the capital to expand its network of robotics-powered microfactories, which it says can construct homes three times faster and at 35% lower cost than traditional methods. - learn more
- Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Sharpi’s $4M seed round, co-led by NXTP and ONEVC and joined by MAYA Capital. The Brazilian startup will use the funding to expand its team and develop autonomous AI agents that connect WhatsApp conversations with enterprise systems to automate B2B sales tasks such as order processing, customer follow-ups and demand generation. - learn more
LA Exits
- Extensiv, a California-based provider of warehouse management and fulfillment software, has been acquired by Descartes Systems Group for approximately $120M in cash. The acquisition adds Extensiv’s AI-enabled inventory, order, billing and omnichannel fulfillment tools to Descartes’ logistics network, strengthening its offerings for third-party logistics providers and ecommerce brands. - learn more
- DocSolutionUSA has been acquired by Stewart Information Services alongside ProTitleUSA, adding mortgage document generation and automation capabilities to Stewart’s title services platform. The companies provide title, document and due diligence services for mortgage servicers, investors and capital markets clients; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
- Fysh Foods, the Los Angeles-based plant-based seafood brand founded by creator and entrepreneur Zoya Biglary, has been acquired by City Roots Hospitality in an all-cash deal with undisclosed terms. City Roots plans to introduce Fysh Foods’ raw fish alternatives across its New York City restaurants and potentially expand the brand beyond the city as its restaurant portfolio grows - learn more
