“Openpath’s founding team successfully started and sold three previous companies. When they began to think about startup number four, I jumped at the opportunity,” said Ken Elefant, Managing Director, Sorenson Ventures.
Openpath was a Los Angeles-based startup that combined hardware and software to create smart security solutions for modern offices. The company’s flagship product, Openpath Access, simplified and secured employee access and made office management easier than ever. With encryption at every level and user-level permissions that could be updated in real-time, Openpath Access was more secure and dynamic than traditional systems. Openpath Access was also extremely flexible and supported contactless entry, capacity management, and contact tracing to ensure safe work environments as gathering and compliance requirements changed.
Elefant continued, “Openpath figured out a way to apply the most sophisticated digital capabilities to physical spaces, which enhanced security, while simplifying access and management. Their connected device approach to managing offices and buildings was ingenious.”
Openpath President and Co-Founder, James Segil said, “I’ve known Ken Elefant for nearly 20 years. Based on our relationship and Sorenson’s security and enterprise software expertise, I knew I wanted to work with them as an investor. Even before the Openpath concept was fully formed, Rob Rueckert, Ken Elefant, and the Sorenson team helped us define our focus and initial opportunity.”
After receiving initial funding from Sorenson Ventures and other investors in 2018, Openpath quickly grew to help its customers manage nearly 2000 offices with hundreds of thousands of employees. The company subsequently raised $56 million in venture capital before being acquired by Motorola Solutions for $297 million in July 2021. Openpath still sells its keyless access control systems as a subsidiary of Motorola and continues to grow its customer base.
Segil summed up the relationship, “Although we were lucky enough to have the resources to self-fund Openpath based on our previous exits, we still wanted to bring Sorenson Ventures in as seed investors. They provided more than money. They gave us their support, advice, and steady hand as we built the business.”
The CEO of the portfolio company listed above has not received any compensation for this feedback and did not invest in any Sorenson fund.
