Okta, Inc.
Company History
Okta History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2009 in San Francisco, California, United States
When was Okta founded?
Okta was founded in 2009 in San Francisco, California, United States by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest, making it 17 years old.
- Founded
- 2009
- Founding place
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Founders
- Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest
- Headquarters today
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2009–2026)
- Current CEO
- Todd McKinnon
- Acquisitions
- 4
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Founded as Saasure in San Francisco |
| 2015 | $1.2 Billion Valuation |
| 2017 | Nasdaq IPO (OKTA) |
| 2019 | Azuqua Acquired |
| 2021 | Auth0 acquisition closes |
| 2022 | Lapsus$ Breach |
| 2023 | Support system breach |
| 2023 | Acquired Spera Security |
| 2025 | First full year of GAAP profit |
| 2025 | Acquired Axiom Security |
| 2026 | Fiscal 2026: $2.919B revenue, $235M net income |
| 2026 | Permiso deal and Okta for AI Agents |
- Where was Okta founded?
- Okta was founded in San Francisco, California, United States in 2009.
- Who founded Okta?
- Okta was founded by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest.
- When did Okta start?
- Okta was founded in 2009.
- How old is Okta?
- Okta is 17 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Todd McKinnon left his role as head of engineering at Salesforce in 2009 to start a company with Frederic Kerrest, who had worked in business development there. Their bet was that as companies moved to SaaS, the corporate firewall would matter less and the user's identity would become the security boundary. The company was incorporated as Saasure, renamed Okta (a meteorological unit of cloud cover), and built a cloud single sign-on service at a time when many CIOs still distrusted putting credentials in a startup's cloud.
Founders
Todd McKinnon
Todd McKinnon co-founded Okta in 2009 and has been its CEO since the start. At Salesforce he ran engineering during its early growth, which shaped his view that SaaS adoption would make identity, not the network perimeter, the core of enterprise security. He took Okta public on the Nasdaq in April 2017, led the $6.5 billion Auth0 acquisition in 2021, and has steered the company toward GAAP profitability and AI agent security. Todd McKinnon was born in 1971.
Frederic Kerrest
Frederic Kerrest co-founded Okta with Todd McKinnon in 2009 and led its early sales, partnerships and operations as chief operating officer, later serving as executive vice chairman. He wrote the 2023 book "Zero to IPO" about building a startup to a public listing, and has since stepped back from an operating role at Okta. Frederic Kerrest was born in 1976.
Key Milestones
Founded as Saasure in San Francisco
Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest start the company; it is soon renamed Okta.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$1.2 Billion Valuation
Okta raised $75 million in September 2015 at a valuation of about $1.2 billion.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNasdaq IPO (OKTA)
Okta lists in April 2017 at $17 per share, raising about $187 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAzuqua Acquired
Okta bought the workflow-automation company Azuqua in 2019 for about $52.5 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAuth0 acquisition closes
Okta completes its roughly $6.5 billion all-stock purchase of Auth0 in May 2021, adding customer identity.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgLapsus$ Breach
Okta disclosed in March 2022 that the Lapsus$ group had accessed a support engineer's laptop at a contractor.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSupport system breach
An October 2023 compromise of Okta's customer support system exposed customer data and hurt trust.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFirst full year of GAAP profit
Fiscal 2025 revenue reaches $2.610 billion with $28 million of GAAP net income.
Source: sec.govFiscal 2026: $2.919B revenue, $235M net income
Revenue grows 12% and free cash flow reaches $863 million.
Source: investors.okta.comPermiso deal and Okta for AI Agents
Okta agrees to buy Permiso Security in July 2026 and launches AI agent identity products at Oktane in September 2026.
Source: okta.comMajor Acquisitions
Auth0
2021Added developer-first customer identity (CIAM).
Spera Security
2023Identity security posture management.
Axiom Security
2025Privileged access for data and AI-era infrastructure.
Permiso Security
2026Identity threat detection across human, non-human and AI agent identities in multi-cloud environments.
Keep researching Okta
Okta Company History FAQ
What are the historic milestones that define the evolution of Okta, Inc.?
Key milestones: founding as Saasure (2009) and renaming to Okta, Nasdaq IPO at $17 per share (April 2017), Azuqua purchase and Okta Workflows (2019), the roughly $6.5 billion Auth0 acquisition (2021), launch of Okta Identity Governance (2022), crossing $2 billion in annual revenue (fiscal 2024), the Okta Secure Identity Commitment (2024), first full-year GAAP profit (fiscal 2025) and the Permiso Security agreement (2026).
How did the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 validate Okta's cloud identity model?
In early 2020, when tens of millions of corporate employees transitioned overnight to remote work, Okta became the essential security backbone of the global economy, enabling enterprises to instantly deploy secure remote access to cloud applications without VPN bottlenecks.
When did Okta launch the Okta Identity Cloud and how did it expand?
Originally a simple Single Sign-On plugin, Okta evolved the Okta Identity Cloud into an enterprise operating system spanning thousands of pre-integrated applications, automated lifecycle provisioning, and contextual biometric MFA.
When did Okta pass $2 billion in annual revenue?
Okta passed $2 billion in fiscal 2024 (ended January 31, 2024), with revenue of $2.263 billion, up from $1.858 billion in fiscal 2023.
How did Okta launch Okta AI at Oktane 2023?
At Oktane 2023, Okta introduced 'Okta AI', a suite of embedded machine learning and generative AI capabilities built natively into Workforce and Customer Identity to automate policy creation, detect identity threats, and generate governance workflows.
What is Okta's commitment to social impact through Okta for Good?
Okta for Good is Okta's social impact program. Okta joined the Pledge 1% commitment, which involves contributing equity, employee time and product to nonprofits.
When did Okta become profitable?
Okta posted its first full year of GAAP net income in fiscal 2025 ($28 million) and grew it to $235 million in fiscal 2026, while free cash flow rose from $730 million to $863 million.
What is Okta's current strategic focus?
Since 2025 Okta has focused on securing AI agents and non-human identities alongside people, through products such as Agent SSO and acquisitions including Axiom Security and Permiso Security.
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