Software March 23, 2022
The First Enterprise Browser: Our Investment in Island
The browser is the most widely used tool in nearly every business. However, it was designed as a consumer application, giving users almost limitless freedom to visit any website or share whatever data they want. Unfortunately, that freedom creates substantial risk when used in a business setting.
Businesses need something better. They want their employees to enjoy the familiarity and speed of their favorite browsers, but they need to protect sensitive data and keep employees from visiting malicious sites. As a result, businesses have had to deploy countless technologies around the browser (agents, proxies, gateways, VDIs, etc) in an attempt to regain control. In the process, user experience suffers, security teams get overwhelmed by a complex web of point solution products, and costs skyrocket - forcing businesses to compromise on both user experience and security.
Island’s Solution, the Enterprise Browser
Island has built the world’s first Enterprise Browser – an elegant, enterprise-grade browser built to give employees the user experience they are accustomed to while also providing the security, productivity, and efficiency IT leaders need. Island leverages the open-source Chromium standard that powers browsers used by more than 70% of the globe, including Chrome and Edge, and layers on an advanced management console that provides the security team full control over the last mile, from basic exfiltration protections such as copy, paste, download, upload, and screenshot capture, to more advanced security demands such as smart network routing and multi-factor authentication insertion.
Island’s innovative approach unlocks limitless use cases for businesses looking to improve their security posture. Customers we spoke with raved about the product – they’ve never seen a new security product with the potential to address so many different pain points and feel strongly every business could find at least one use case where Island is the best solution, if not many. Examples include securing critical SaaS and internal web applications from data leakage, safe access for contractors and BYOD workers, and full governance over privileged user accounts.
Stripes Invests in Island’s $115M Series B
We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with Island after investing in their Series A last year. When we first met co-founders Mike Fey and Dan Amiga, we were blown away by their vision, customer-centric approach, and ability to assemble a world-class team. Since then, Island has only exceeded our already lofty expectations across every vector.
With this foundation, it’s no wonder that Island has built a game-changing product that is defining this exciting new category. The product feedback we’ve collected from Island’s customers and prospects is some of the best and most consistent we’ve ever heard. Buyers trialing the product immediately see the value, replace tools that have burdened their security teams and employees alike, and have quickly become customers and evangelists.
We are beyond excited to deepen our partnership with Island by investing in their Series B, and we look forward to helping them usher in the future of work in the years to come!