Defakto

Defakto provides a non-human identity security platform designed to secure machine-to-machine interactions across enterprise infrastructure. The company addresses the challenge that modern enterprises have millions of non-human identities (APIs, workloads, AI agents) compared to thousands of human employees, with most secured using static secrets that rarely rotate. The platform eliminates static secrets by providing dynamic, cryptographic identities for automated interactions across pipelines, services, and AI agents. Defakto's solution is built to deliver enterprise-grade usability while implementing the security principles of open standards, addressing the gap where open-source solutions require years of complex implementation. Founded by Eli Nesterov and Danny Oliveri, the company emerged from firsthand experience managing identity at hyperscale infrastructure at ByteDance. Nesterov identified the technical challenges of implementing non-human identity solutions in enterprise environments, while Oliveri recognized the market need for a product-grade platform that combines security with practical adoption requirements. The platform targets enterprises dealing with the proliferation of non-human identities, which can outnumber human identities by ratios of 45:1 or higher. Defakto's approach focuses on providing managed identities for workloads, enabling organizations to govern and secure automated infrastructure interactions at scale. The company is backed by investors including Adverb Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, WndrCo, and J.P. Morgan.