Ontic Secures $230M to Scale Connected Security Platform

A connected security intelligence platform led by a former Sprinklr executive raised $230 million to make Ontic the standard for physical security software.

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The Austin, Texas-based company plans to use the Series C funding to integrate AI and automation to help analysts triage risks more effectively and drive the shift from reactive to proactive security, said Chief Solutions and Innovation Officer Manish Mehta. The company’s platform ingests signals from diverse sources and connects them with physical security infrastructure such as access controls and sensors.

“We have clear signals that we have an opportunity to become the standard for physical security software,” Mehta told Information Security Media Group. “With our growth, with the signals that we have, with an open and connected ecosystem, those all point to, ‘Let’s put more fuel into the engine, and let’s see how far we can take this puppy.’ It’s all about momentum.”

Ontic, founded in 2017, employs 276 people and has raised nearly $300 million across five rounds of outside funding, having previously completed a $40 million Series B funding round in November 2021. The firm has been led since inception by Lukas Quanstrom, who previously spent more than five years at customer experience management platform Sprinklr, ultimately spearheading strategic alliances (see: How Failing to Address Physical Security Creates Cyber Risk).

Becoming the Standard in Physical Security

Mehta said the Series C funding will help Ontic become the standard in physical security, moving away from fragmented and outdated point solutions. The company’s latest funding round was led by KKR, which Mehta said provides operational, cyber and federal experience, along with a portfolio of companies Ontic either wants to partner with or sell to.

“If you think about the untapped potential in this market – whether you look at new sectors that we can move into, new markets we can start to penetrate, international – it’s entirely up for grabs,” he said. The world of physical security software is just antiquated: point solutions, disconnected, fragmented. We call it ‘accidental silence.’ And then a company like Ontic comes along, and our vision is a little bit different.”

Physical security historically used disconnected systems for the following, Mehta said: daily incidents including badge access anomalies or medical emergencies, anticipated threats like shareholder meetings or executive travel, and crisis events like active shooters or natural disasters. Ontic wants to unify these workflows under one platform and said this funding will help serve all three categories seamlessly.

“Our investment thesis is really simple,” Mehta said. “It is, ‘How do we become the platform and the standard that can cover each of those rhythms?’ So that just means more into R&D, more into our Connected Intelligence Platform, and then just continuing to make sure that we have the resources to support this growing market.”

Ontic aims to centralize and synthesize threat signals from multiple sources including open-source data from social media and the dark web as well as physical infrastructure like cameras, badge readers and sensors. Mehta said the company wants to help security teams move from reactive to proactive threat management by ingesting diverse data, connecting with more devices, and improving communications.

“How do you connect the data, how do you connect the workflows, how do you connect the insights?” Mehta said. “So, some of that is resources and investment. Some of that is tech. Some of that is connecting more data. Some of that might be more data partnerships.”

How Ontic Will Bring Physical, Cyber Security Together

Mehta sees AI as critical to enabling real-time triage, helping analysts filter noise from true signals, providing recommended actions at speed, and handling the volume and velocity of threat signals. Ontic plans to expand its AI capabilities with Series C funds to better understand which anomalies matter most, accelerate investigations and automate alerts, and turn incident data into proactive insights.

“It’s the speed and the ability to pull the signal from the noise,” Mehta said. “So, pretend you’re inside of a company. As a security analyst, you cannot, in any given day, keep up with all the threat signals that are coming to your business. So AI at the end of the day is going to help you pull the signal from the noise and say, ‘Here’s where you need to focus.'”

Indicators of risk such as employee grievances or behavioral anomalies often surface in the physical domain before they manifest digitally, but Mehta said traditional silos between cyber and physical teams mean that warning signs go unnoticed until it’s too late. By bringing together perimeter devices, access controls, and cyber systems through APIs, Mehta said Ontic can help companies identify threats earlier.

“All of those threat signals were probably known by the physical security team, all of the cyber digital signals were known by the cyber team, but they didn’t put those two together,” Mehta said. “I think the opportunity to see insider risk – which is actually growing in most companies – and being able to converge the two together, I think is a huge untapped opportunity.”

Ontic is actively working on its FedRAMP certification, which Mehta said will enable the company to take on unique operational hurdles in the U.S. federal government such as more controlled procurement cycles, layered partner ecosystems and more stringent certifications. And as Ontic expands outside the U.S., data privacy laws and fragmented data infrastructure in foreign markets introduce new complexities.

“The access to data on individuals is a bit more fragmented internationally,” Mehta said. “Federal court records, state-level court records, information on individuals is much more centralized here in the U.S. than it is in international markets.”