# Elisity Financial Model

Zero-trust network access platform ("Cognitive Trust") that secures enterprise assets based on identity and behavior, not network location.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/elisity
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/elisity.xlsx
- Category: Enterprise/Security
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Series A
- Funding: $5M
- Founded: 2020
- Geography: North America focus (initial 24–36 months); global product capable [DECK slide 2, 10].
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Elisity provides a zero-trust network-access platform that secures enterprise assets using identity and behaviour rather than network location. Its Cognitive Trust approach is designed to give security teams visibility and policy control across IT, IoT, and operational-technology environments.

The company sells XaaS subscriptions into enterprise deployments, where customer value can grow across both people and connected devices. That matters because device estates can be large: the materials cite an account with 500,000 devices, making the device layer a meaningful expansion driver.

The model builds ARR from users and devices as distinct pricing bases, then tracks new contracts, rollout timing, expansion, and renewal. Per-unit pricing, gross margin, multi-year contract mix, sales capacity, implementation expense, and security-support costs determine operating performance and cash needs.

## What's included

- 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions
- Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule
- Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking
- Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check
- Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR
- Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention

## Product & value proposition

- Elisity Cognitive Trust: cloud-delivered control and policy plane that enforces least-privilege access at the asset level (users, devices, apps, data) based on contextual identity and behavior - not network perimeter.
- Four pillars: Visibility & Inventory, Micro-Segmentation, Least-Privilege Access, Monitoring & Enforcement.
- Architecture: multi-tenant cloud Control Center (SaaS) + distributed data plane (Elisity Edge, Access Service, Connect) deployable across campus, branch, DC, cloud, remote.
- Key differentiators claimed: SDP + Zero Trust combined; continuous identity AND behavior verification; purpose-built for OT/ICS + IT convergence; no constant rule changes; brownfield-friendly.
- Integrations: PingID, Okta, BMC Discovery, ServiceNow, Armis, Claroty, VMware, AWS Outposts, Azure Stack.
- Value prop to buyer: replaces multi-vendor patchwork (~$1,670/gateway/yr cloud + ~$489/workload/yr DC + ~$436/port/yr branch + ~$92/user/yr remote) with a single per-user or per-device subscription.

## Market

- TAM: Zero-Trust Network Access - $38.6B by 2024, growing from $16B (implies ~19% CAGR).
- SAM: $9.6B - North America, OT/ICS and cloud-edge verticals, next 24–36 months.
- Primary verticals targeted: Pharma/Chemical Manufacturing (OT/ICS), IoMT Diagnostic Systems, Financial Services (FiServ).
- Budget signal: 84% of large enterprises (1,000–9,999 employees) have zero-trust budgets of $250K+; Very Large (10,000+) skew heavily toward $250K–$1M (43%) and $5M+ (43%).

## Revenue model

- XaaS subscription, two billable motions:
  - Per-user: $7/user/month ($84/user/year)
  - Per-device: $5/device/month ($60/device/year)
- Free tier: up to 20 users, 10 policies, 3 apps, 3 AWS regions (US + Canada); upgrade triggers once 20+ users onboard.
- Land-and-expand: free tier converts to paid at scale; 3-year enterprise deployment plans observed in case studies.
- Channel: direct enterprise sales (VP Sales, VP Systems Engineering, VP Growth on team); no channel partner model disclosed.
- Contract structure: "Elisity subscription or per user per year" - implies annual contracts.

## Traction & metrics

- Two named enterprise deployments in progress:
  - Top-5 global pharma: 73 manufacturing facilities, 500,000 OT devices, 3-year deployment plan (slide 11).
  - National financial services firm: 62K employees, 18K IoT devices, 10K ATMs, 4K branches, 3-year deployment plan (slide 12).
- Seed milestones described as completed with "flawless execution".
- "Accelerating customer momentum (committed projects and funnel)".
- No ARR, MRR, logo count, NRR, or revenue figures disclosed in deck.

## Unit economics

- Pricing anchors: $7/user/month; $5/device/month.
- Implied per-seat ACV: $84/user/year or $60/device/year.
- Displacement economics for a large FiServ customer (62K users, 18K IoT, 9K ATMs):
  - Legacy annual spend: Cloud ~$1,670/gateway, DC ~$489/workload, Branch ~$436/port, Remote ~$92/user - aggregate not stated.
  - Elisity replaces all with single subscription (exact price for enterprise deals not stated).

## Competition / moat

- Legacy vendors displaced: Aviatrix, Palo Alto Networks, Tetration, StealthWatch, Catalyst/DNA Center, ISE, ZPA, Prisma, AnyConnect.
- Positioning: Zscaler explicitly called insufficient for branch least-privilege.
- Moat claims:
  - "Industry's first SDP + Zero Trust solution."
  - 50+ patents across team; 20 Elisity-specific patents in progress.
  - Cognitive engine improves over time (Day 100 > Day 1).
  - True cross-domain architecture (OT + IT + cloud + remote in one platform).
- Team background: Cisco, Insieme, Viptela (acquired by Cisco for $610M in 2017, now $500M/yr business), Extreme Networks, Meraki, Aviatrix.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- CEO: James Winebrenner
- CPO: Burjiz Pithawala
- Chief Architect: Sundher Narayan
- VP Engineering: Srinivas Sardar
- VP Sales: Matthew Krieg
- VP Systems Engineering: Brent Colwell
- VP Growth: Pete Doolittle
- Seed Investor & Strategic Advisor: Khalid Raza
- Prior funding: Seed round referenced as completed; amount not stated.

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## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why:** SaaS ARR / seat-based subscription model with two revenue streams (users and devices). The dual per-seat + per-device pricing, XaaS delivery, land-and-expand motion, and enterprise multi-year deployment contracts are classic SaaS ARR dynamics. OT/device counts can be very large (500K devices for one customer), making the device tier potentially the dominant revenue driver.

- **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 5-year annual model (Year 1–5) with monthly detail for Year 1–2. Seed → Series A → Series B implied trajectory.

- **Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Value / Rationale |
| -- | -- |
| User price | $7/user/month = $84/user/year |
| Device price | $5/device/month = $60/device/year |
| Initial verticals | Pharma/Chemical Mfg, IoMT, FiServ |
| SAM | $9.6B over 24–36 months |
| TAM growth | ~19% CAGR to $38.6B by 2024 |
| Avg enterprise users per deal | ~10,000–62,000 (wide range; model at 20K mid) |
| Avg enterprise devices per deal | ~5,000–500,000 (model at 25K mid) |
| User/device revenue mix | 50/50 initially, shifting toward device-heavy |
| New logo adds (Year 1) | 2–4 enterprise logos |
| New logo ramp | 6–10 logos/year by Year 3 |
| Sales cycle | 9–12 months |
| Gross margin | 70–75% |
| S&M as % of revenue | 50–60% in Years 1–2, declining to 35% by Year 5 |
| R&D as % of revenue | 30–40% in Years 1–2, stabilizing at 20–25% |
| NRR | 120–130% |
| Churn | 5–8% gross annual |
| Free-to-paid conversion rate | 15–25% |

- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
  - **Bear:** Slow enterprise logo adds (1–2/year), low device/user mix, longer sales cycles (12–18 months), 65% gross margin.
  - **Base:** 3–4 logos/year ramp, 70% GM, NRR 120%.
  - **Bull:** 6+ logos/year by Year 2, OT device counts dominate (25K+ devices/logo), NRR 135%+.
  - Key flex variables: new logo velocity, avg devices-per-customer, free-to-paid conversion, gross margin.

- **Required sheets / outputs:**
  1. Assumptions dashboard (toggle Base / Bull / Bear)
  2. ARR bridge (new logo, expansion, churn, contraction)
  3. Revenue split: user-seats ARR vs. device-seats ARR
  4. Customer cohort table (logos × avg contract value × NRR)
  5. P&L (revenue, COGS, gross profit, S&M, R&D, G&A, EBIT, net income)
  6. Headcount plan (Sales, SE, Engineering, G&A)
  7. Cash / runway (simple; no capex-heavy model needed - software company)
  8. Valuation summary (ARR multiple benchmarks against zero-trust/ZTNA comps)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Elisity financial model free?

Yes. The Elisity model is a free Excel download with live formulas.

### Can I change the assumptions?

Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.