Austin Arensberg, vice-president and head of Okta Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2026 Powerlist.
Austin Arensberg has helped establish Okta Ventures as one of the sharper strategic corporate venturing units in the cybersecurity and identity management sectors. As vice-president and head of Okta Ventures, he oversees investments designed to strengthen the ecosystem surrounding Okta’s identity platform while giving the company an early view of emerging technologies shaping the future of security, privacy and digital trust.
Arensberg joined Okta in 2019 after leading US investments for early-stage VC firm Scrum Ventures, bringing a blend of traditional venture capital discipline and strategic corporate investing experience. Since the launch of Okta Ventures in 2019, he has played a central role in building the fund’s portfolio and reputation, helping it back more than 50 startups across identity, cybersecurity, privacy and adjacent enterprise infrastructure markets.
Established with an initial $50m commitment from identity and access management software provider Okta, the fund was created to support early-stage companies developing technologies that complement the company’s platform and broader vision for secure digital identity. Beyond capital, portfolio companies gain access to Okta’s technical expertise, customer network and integration ecosystem, enabling founders to accelerate product development and commercial adoption.
The past year’s priority has been supporting the AI-security convergence. Its most recent deals this year include Variance’s series A round, Atomicwork’s series B, Knox System’s series A round, Sapiom’s seed round and Replit’s series D. These investments reflect a move to securing the entire AI infrastructure stack in line with Okta’s newly rolled out security tooling for AI agents.
Okta Ventures investments have always reflected Okta’s dual mandate, enabling access to tooling while at the same time ensuring secure and safe experiences. Approximately 50% of the portfolio are directly in cybersecurity and the other 50% are across a number of industries from agentic commerce, AI infra, HR, privacy and IT.
Okta Ventures has also seen vibrant exit activity in its portfolio over the past six years – a period where many investors were concerned about liquidity. Two of the funds’ portfolio companies were acquired by Workday, two by CrowdStrike along with other exits to SentinelOne, Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint and Motorola, among others.
Arensberg has consistently championed the idea that identity sits at the centre of modern cybersecurity. That perspective extends beyond investing. He has become a prominent advocate for the wider identity ecosystem through initiatives such as Okta Ventures’ annual “Identity 25”, which recognises innovators advancing digital identity standards, security and privacy around the world.
The GCV Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
Here’s a snapshot of their recent deals:
