Even $82.5 million in venture funding doesn’t make you immune to an economic slowdown.
In a yearlong effort to balance growth during a broader slowdown in corporate technology spending, executives at Irvine-based Access360 said they are reviewing the company’s internal operations and watching the books closely.
“We’re trying to stay lean and mean,” said Brian Anderson, the company’s chief marketing officer.
In the past nine months, the company has laid off a handful of employees after reviewing some of its segments and outsourcing some operations it used to handle internally.
Access360 is the darling of Orange County startups and a favorite of venture capitalists. Some have pegged the company as OC’s next big public offering, when the market turns around.
The company develops software that determines who gets access to what on a company’s network. The software acts as a mediator for employees and vendors wanting to tap various corporate databases. Customers include Oppenheimer Funds, Sony Electronics Inc., BP PLC, AOL Time Warner Inc. and E*Trade Group Inc.
For now, though, Access360 is keeping a tight handle on hiring as it weathers the economic downturn, Anderson said.
The company has kept its headcount to about 200 employees, including contractors, and plans to keep it there until business improves.
“Of course we’re always on the lookout for good people, but we’re not actively recruiting,” Anderson said. “In today’s market, really good people are being let go, which makes for a good opportunity to bring in good people.”
Access360’s shift in attitude from ambitious to cautious underscores the tough market facing many startups that have survived the technology bust.
In January, Access360 raised $50.5 million in funding led by New York-based Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc. and San Francisco’s Pivotal Asset Management.
Oracle Corp. and Verisign Inc. also kicked undisclosed amounts. Other backers include the Irvine office of Crosspoint Venture Partners.
Investors like Access360 because the company’s software solves a problem for business: making sensitive data available for those who need it while keeping others out.
Late last year, the executives at Access360 regrouped after a gangbuster year and have sought to bolster their management. Since January, the company has revamped its executive ranks with five new appointments to its management and board lineup.
Access360 hopes the new team will appeal to investors, who already are high on company founder Yuri Pikover.
The Russian-born entrepreneur was a co-founder and executive vice president of Calabasas networking gear manufacturer Xylan Corp., which France’s Alcatel bought for about $2 billion in 1999.
In April, Access360 teamed with Mountain View-based VeriSign to offer a new service dubbed Access360.net, a web-based security service.
Last month, Access360 appointed former Irvine Networks LLC chief operating officer Kevin Walsh as the head of the new division.
Access360 faces competition from internal company software developers and bigger names such as Houston-based BMC Software Inc., which has a sizable operation in Costa Mesa.
BMC’s Control-SA software also allows users to manage access to databases. Other rivals include Greenbelt, Md.-based Systor Security Solutions Inc. and Framingham, Mass.-based Courion Corp. n
