Lightspeed-backed WorkOS launches to help startup services become enterprise-ready
With the explosive popularity of B2B services startups, it was only natural that a B2B startup would come along that’s offering a service to help startups become enterprise services themselves.
WorkOS, which is launching out of stealth with seed funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners and others, is building a toolkit to help startups meet the requirements for bringing on enterprise clients. The company aims to get startups set up with an API for single sign-on, directory sync, audit trails, role-based access controls and other key services.
As more startups look to approach enterprise from a bottom-up capacity and focus on creating individual use cases, quickly meeting IT administrators expectations can become a shortcut to higher margin customers. The inspiration for WorkOS came from its founder’s previous email startup, which tried to make a play for enterprise adoption and clients but couldn’t cross what he calls “the enterprise chasm.”
“The feedback I got was, this is a great app but we can’t buy this as a company because you’re not enterprise-ready,” CEO Michael Grinich told TechCrunch in an interview. “Even if you focus on the end user experience, there’s a different buyer at the end of that tunnel with a different set of needs.”
Becoming enterprise-ready means meeting the same compliance requirements that IT administrators need to adhere to, something that can obviously be an issue for a small startup that’s light on resources. On the security side, Grinich says that WorkOS is currently in its SOC-2 Type 2 observation period and should receive certification in Q2 of this year.
These are uncertain times to be a startup launching publicly, but Grinich’s description of his company as a “highway onramp to get into [enterprise] ecosystems,” seems apt for startups seeking to quickly build out new revenue streams. Right now, WorkOS operates across a few pricing structures with a free tier that brings users single sign-on support as well as a $99/mo developer tier and $499/mo corporate tiers that scale up WorkOS’s offered functionality substantially.
First Round, SV Angel, Abstract Ventures, Tuesday Capital and Work Life Ventures are also backers.
With the explosive popularity of B2B services startups, it was only natural that a B2B startup would come along that’s offering a service to help startups become enterprise services themselves. WorkOS, which is launching out of stealth with seed funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners and others, is building a toolkit…
