Cloud access startup Apono on Monday announced raising $15.5 million in a Series A funding round that brings the total raised by the company to $20.5 million.

The new investment round was led by New Era Capital Partners, with additional support from Mindset Ventures, Redseed Ventures, Silvertech Ventures, and previous investors.

Founded in 2022, the Wilmington, Delaware-based company provides cloud access solutions focusing on AI-driven least privilege and anomaly detection, ensuring just-in-time and just-enough access to critical resources.

Apono’s platform relies on AI for automated privileged access management, to reduce friction and improve productivity, and for anomaly detection, warning organizations when unusual access behavior is identified. It also reduces security risks by providing users with the minimum necessary permissions.

According to Apono, its platform allows organizations to easily manage access in complex, distributed cloud environments, while providing them with a deep understanding of privileged access and delivering a frictionless experience to users.

The company will invest the new funds in research and development, while also looking to add new talent to its sales and marketing teams to expand its presence on the US market.

Furthermore, Apono will expand its enterprise support teams to ensure it meets the needs of its growing customer base, and will invest more in AI-based product offerings.

“Privileged access management and identity governance are converging, driving the need for more holistic identity and access security solutions, particularly within today’s dynamic cloud environments in which modern businesses operate. Apono’s innovative solution addresses critical challenges in the cloud access management space,” Apono CEO and co-founder Rom Carmel said.

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