FedRAMP Certification Made Easy: Knox Raises $6.5M to Compete with Palantir

Knox, a federal managed cloud provider, has raised a $6.5M seed round to help software vendors speed through the security authorization process for government contracts, known as FedRAMP. Founded by Irina Denisenko, Knox aims to help vendors achieve FedRAMP certification in just three months, at a fraction of the cost of doing it on their own. Denisenko hopes Knox can help SaaS vendors access government contracts more easily.

Knox, a federal managed cloud provider, has secured a $6.5 million seed round led by Felicis, with participation from Ridgeline and FirsthandVC. The funding will support Knox's mission to help software vendors achieve FedRAMP certification in just three months, at a fraction of the cost typically associated with the process.

Founded by Irina Denisenko, Knox aims to simplify the complex and resource-intensive FedRAMP authorization process. FedRAMP certification, which can take up to three years and cost more than $3 million, is a critical requirement for software vendors seeking government contracts. Denisenko, who previously served as COO at Class, an education startup, faced these challenges firsthand. To expedite the process, Class acquired CoSo Cloud, a FedRAMP-certified company, to gain certification in just six months [2].

Knox's service includes monitoring applications for updates and ensuring compliance, a task that Denisenko describes as "very hard and very risky." The company is already managing security and compliance for several clients, including Adobe, Class, Spacelift, and an LLM provider. By the end of the year, Knox expects to have well over a dozen customers live in the cloud.

The growing demand for FedRAMP compliance, driven by the increasing adoption of software by the government, presents an opportunity for Knox. Denisenko believes that software companies will increasingly outsource their FedRAMP compliance to managed cloud providers like Knox. Knox faces stiff competition from established players like Palantir, which offers a similar service called FedStart [2].

References:
[1] https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/SAILPOINT-INC-182654032/news/SailPoint-Data-Access-Security-achieves-FedRAMP-authorization-within-SailPoint-Identity-Security-Clo-50457753/
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/10/knox-lands-6-5m-to-compete-with-palantir-in-the-federal-compliance-market/