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In my earlier career spanning networking and data infrastructure, I had encountered air-gapped environments mostly among customers who prized security above all else—at least, it seemed that way working at Silicon Valley tech companies trying to sell them on the next big thing! These were typically governments and top-secret agencies.
So, I was definitely intrigued when I first came across an early-stage startup called Airgap. Ritesh and his team at Airgap developed an agentless zero-trust network to help enterprises dynamically control network access and prevent the lateral spread of malicious activity even after an initial breach.
What started out as a curious outreach, ended up being an investment that Sorenson Capital made shortly after that first meeting. My colleague, Ken Elefant, and I had the privilege of being part of an exhilarating journey with Airgap, culminating in Zscaler acquiring the company in April 2024.
In reflecting on Airgap’s journey, there are four standout characteristics of Airgap and its founding team that made it wildly successful, with some of these insights hidden in plain sight.
Unique insights
In our first meeting, Ritesh asked me a simple yet thought-provoking question: “Can you tell me why,” he said, “you seldom hear of ransomware spread from one phone to another just because they are both on a call together?” Well, I said, “Our cell phones don’t technically connect physically, but they do connect through the telco/cellular intermediary while keeping them somewhat separated.” And that, he told me, was the unique insight that led him to start Airgap.
At the time of our investment, Airgap was by no means the only zero-trust security company. But Airgap and Ritesh’s unique insights led them to develop a novel yet elegant solution to a pressing security problem.
Unique insights can often be hidden in plain sight, as in this case.
Innovate passionately
When I last counted, Airgap had thirteen patents granted and two approved in its short life. Now, anyone who knows even a bit about cybersecurity knows that differentiation and innovation are unfortunately not mainstream, even among startups.
Innovation was in Airgap’s DNA long before it acquired its first paying customer. Even after building customer momentum, they never stopped innovating. They turned all their customer learnings and unique market insights into innovative product capabilities that left competitors in the dust.
In our experience, innovation at startups works best when it is not done in a vacuum, and Airgap exemplified a way to do so continuously alongside their customers.
The Power of Discipline
Although Ritesh believed that Airgap’s technology would eventually be relevant for a broad range of enterprise companies, he initially targeted manufacturing customers in the OT, or operational technology, market segment. Airgap realized that these companies had the most urgent pain and best alignment with Airgap’s key differentiated value–their agentless approach.
In contrast to computers, routers, and cloud infrastructure that comprise IT systems, which are highly updatable and designed to incorporate sophisticated defensive technologies, OT devices and systems are usually difficult to access and can’t be easily changed. In fact, it’s hard to install anything new for many OT endpoints and devices.
As a result, Airgap’s initial go-to-market efforts focused on manufacturing companies like Flex and Kingston Technology. Early wins helped the Airgap team understand industrial user expectations, how to avoid obstacles in the sales process, and, eventually, the best way to expand small installations with existing customers into bigger divisional and company-wide deals. They also provided customer success stories and credibility that would help the startup expand into adjacent market segments.
Dreaming Big
Importantly, Airgap didn’t solely rely on customer wins to support its go-to-market approach. Airgap added new features and capabilities that would align with its expansion into new markets and appeal to a broader audience. For example, Airgap acquired NetSpyGlass to increase network visibility, improve asset monitoring, and reduce response time when problems occur.
Enhanced features like these, combined with the credibility Airgap earned from successful implementations at early, brand-name customers like Flex, helped attract enterprise customers in new market segments, like tech and retail, and win deals with high-profile companies, including Dropbox, Tilly’s, Skyline, High Wire, AWFIS, and many others.
None of this should come as a surprise to most founders out there but when you put it all together and do so consistently, day after day, week after week, that’s when magic happens. We are inspired by Airgap’s journey and hope you are too!
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