Boulder-based tech startup Alpin launches, raises $1M

BOULDER — A new tech startup has launched with more than $1 million in funding.

Alpin Inc. is a tech company that has created a dashboard where other cloud-reliant businesses can learn exactly how many software-as-a-service tools they and their employees have signed up for, what permissions have been given to those tools and which tools may be underused.

Alpin has raised $1 million in funding, led by Rockies Venture Club and with additional investment from Nebraska Angels, Plains Angels, Keiretsu Capital, Rockies Venture Fund, Techstars and individual investors.

Alpin helps mid-size and enterprise companies inventory the SaaS applications they have associated with employee accounts, such as Slack, Dropbox, Gsuite and other tools.

Not only does Alpin help determine what employees are using, but also helps the company determine ways to cut costs. For example, if there are 50 Salesforce licenses associated with the company, but only 10 are being actively used, the company can reduce costs significantly.

Finally, Alpin helps maintain security by assessing what permissions SaaS applications might have, such as accessing all company email addresses, directories or even spreadsheets.

“We help them understand when there are risky behaviors,” said co-founder Mark Evans, who runs the business with CEO Julien Denaes. “We can show if someone shared a document publicly from the finance folder or if an app has full access to Gsuite or shared documents. Understanding what the security impacts are is a big thing.”

With the funding, Alpin plans to bring on board a team that can develop more features and functionalities to benefit customers and to get it in the hands of more customers through increased outreach. Alpin also wants to have functionality with more cloud-based applications, so customers can get even more data on what is being used.

“One thing that I think is really gratifying about this is how we’ve heard from customers, then prospective investors, then industry analysts that this market is a really good one. We’re focusing on the right stuff,” Evans said. “That to us is a really gratifying thing to hear.”