Oct. 19, 2021

Valence: Securing the Business Application Mesh

By John Brennan

YL Ventures' Partner John Brennan explains why we decided to invest in Valence. Read more about the investment and the industry’s first Business Application Mesh security solution here:

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We spend a lot of time at YL Ventures thinking about today’s most pressing cybersecurity challenges, while simultaneously tracking less defined (though no less critical) areas of concern that tend to emerge in the wake of macro trends. For years now, we’ve heard from our Advisor community about challenges posed by SaaS adoption, third party service exposure, and (more recently) the explosion of hyper-automation. There are myriad ways to think about the risk posed by this increasingly complex landscape, and there are varying approaches to configuration, detection and response, and privileged access – it’s a complex topic! From our vantage point as seed investors, we can usually grasp the problems that make there way to the top of a CISO’s prioritization ladder, but it takes the ingenuity and creativity of deep cybersecurity and technology practitioners to tangibly address these gaps in novel ways. And so, with a clear and concise thesis around the non-human application connectivity that increasingly automates critical business functions in today’s environment, Valence has opened our eyes to the Business Application Mesh.

Today, Valence officially announces its Business Application Mesh Security Platform and a $7M seed round led by YL Ventures, with participation from an impressive group of industry experts*. Founded by Yoni Shohet (CEO) and Shlomi Matichin (CTO), Valence addresses the security challenges across an increasingly convoluted web of integrated applications (the Mesh).  Valence’s innovative solution comprehensively maps the critical API connections and hyper-automation workflows that comprise the Mesh, monitoring activity, while defining and enforcing policies and best practices.

I first met Yoni in 2019 over lunch at Vong, a Vietnamese restaurant on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. I came out of that meal knowing that whatever this guy was going to build, I wanted to be a part of it. Yoni, however, wasn’t in a rush, as he knew that both the idea and team had to be just right in order to commit. Patience is often a virtue developed with experience, and Yoni’s maturity was evident from the outset.  And so commenced an ongoing years-long collaborative relationship, as my colleagues and I eagerly awaited the day when Yoni’s conviction in a Partner and space would catch up to our conviction in him. Yoni’s thorough, even-keeled approach to entrepreneurship allowed him to explore various markets and opportunities, and his analytically rigorous thought process only strengthened our excitement (even if at times, I was less patient than he was!)

Finally, in May 2021, Yoni casually let me know that on our next call, he wanted to (1) discuss a massive market opportunity and (2) introduce me to his Cofounder. It was game time! Shlomi’s entrance into the discussion was seamless, and I was immediately blown away by his knowledge and talent, as well as by the ways in which he perfectly complemented Yoni. Further, to my great delight, the topic that they wanted to discuss was one that we were beyond excited to explore. The stars were aligning.

As we often see, exciting trends that bring great business value also drive an increase in risk that security teams must address. The connectivity of third-party applications and hyper-automation tools broadens the enterprise attack surface, and incumbent approaches lack the comprehensiveness and context required to map and monitor this mesh in a holistic way. Valence delivers full visibility of this burgeoning attack surface, while identifying and mitigating internal and third-party access risks.

Having now seen many founders work through the very earliest stages of customer discovery and adoption, I’m amazed at the velocity of Valence’s user adoption and product development. Already well ahead of their initial deployment targets, the company is providing real value to security teams, well on its way to surpassing internal benchmarks that we use to track early company progress. Valence’s goal is to establish itself as THE platform of choice for understanding and securing the Business Application Mesh. It is still early, but the signals are positive.

As seed stage investors, we love to talk about big unsolved problems in need of novel solutions – and customer excitement at Valence’s vision is already validating the need for a new approach in this space. The reality, though, is that markets change, and rarely can we predict exactly what the future will look like in such a dynamic ecosystem. That uncertainty is something we must be comfortable with as early-stage investors. Where we cannot harbor any doubt, however, is in the capabilities and ambitions of the teams we back – and I am immensely proud that these two very special individuals have chosen us as their partners. Regardless of where this market goes, I know that Valence has the right leadership in place to optimize success, both now and well into the future.

Today is an important step for Valence in what promises to be an exciting journey – and YL Ventures is honored to be along for the ride!

 *Valence Angel Investors & Advisors include: Phil Venables (Former CISO, Goldman Sachs), Justin Somaini (CSO, Unity Technologies), Sounil Yu (Former Chief Security Scientist, Bank of America), David Tsao (VP Security Engineering, Marqeta), Maarten Van Horenbeeck (CISO, Zendesk), Jeff Trudeau (Former CISO, Credit Karma), Karl Mattson (CISO, Noname Security), Michael Sutton (Former CISO, ZScaler), Dean Atkinson (VP Group Information Security, Burberry), Andy Ellis (Former CSO, Akamai), Ryan Gurney (Former CISO, Looker), Omkhar Arasaratnam (Former Data Protection Engineering Director, JPMorgan Chase), Frank Kim (Fellow & Former CISO, SANS Institute), Shay Banon (Cofounder & CEO, Elastic), Benny Schnaider (Cofounder & Chairman, Salto), Etay Bogner (VP and GM, Zero Trust Products, Proofpoint), Shai Morag (Cofounder & CEO, Ermetic), Amif Ofek (CEO, AxoniusX), Ido Yablonka (Former GM, Yahoo Israel).