Centrify to grow Australian workforce with $42m injection

Unified identity services provider, Centrify, is set to increase its Australian workforce headcount and introduce new products into the local market after securing US$42 million in fundraising from leading mobile and security vendors.

The company announced today it had raised the multimillion dollar sum thanks to funding from strategic investors, Samsung Ventures, Fortinet Inc., and Docomo Capital. The new round of investment brings the company’s cumulate fundraising tally to US$94 million.

A spokesperson for the US-based unified identity services provider said that the cash injection will allow Centrify to not only introduce more products to the Australian market but also increase its local workforce.

"Our customers in Australia can expect to see more products from Centrify in identity as well as closer technical collaboration and integration with solutions from Samsung and Fortinet," the spokesperson said.

"We plan to add more headcount in both Australia as well as the APAC region in general in the coming months, so customers will see a deeper in-country presence with more local pre-sales and post-sales resources as well as a further deepening of our focus on building up channel partners."

Centrify, which provides its unified identity services across datacentre, cloud and mobile platforms — resulting in one single login for users and one unified identity infrastructure for IT — said it was well positioned to capitalise on transitioning the market to identity-as-a-service.

"We believe Centrify is doing big things in the industry and we are confident that they will continue to provide the most comprehensive and cutting edge cloud-based solutions for identity and access management," said Dr. Injong Rhee, senior vice president of KNOX business group, IT and mobile communications division, Samsung Electronics.

"Samsung is investing in the enterprise and delivering to customers the best mobile solutions and Centrify is an integral partner for that offering," said Rhee.

For Centrify chief executive, Tom Kemp, the new investment will enable the company to increase its footprint.

"Our goal has always been to provide the best identity management solutions for our customers, and with this funding and new talent, I'm confident that we will continue to innovate and find ways to disrupt the industry given our unique ability to address identity across cloud, mobile and the data centre," said Kemp.

"As key partners like Samsung, Fortinet, and Docomo validate our unified approach, the future is increasingly bright for the identity market, and even brighter for Centrify," he said.