KnectIQ
KnectIQ is a privately held cybersecurity company that licenses SelectiveTRUST®, a patented Zero Trust trust fabric eliminating stored credentials via ephemeral device-rooted bindings. It serves defense, intelligence, and government customers through direct sales and OEM partnerships in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersSaint Paul, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What KnectIQ does
KnectIQ is a privately held US cybersecurity company headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota with a registered EU office in Luxembourg, founded around 2015 (per firmographic data) with its first patent issued in June 2019. It sells a single unified platform product, SelectiveTRUST®, a software-defined, programmable trust fabric that establishes device-rooted, verifiable trust relationships to protect data, networks, and AI systems. The core technical proposition is the elimination of stored encryption keys and PKI-managed credentials: ephemeral, single-use trust bindings are generated for each authorized exchange, so no secret exists either before or after it is needed. The architecture is vendor-neutral, quantum-resistant, and independently verifiable, and is deployed as an overlay that requires no new hardware.
KnectIQ monetizes SelectiveTRUST through two streams: enterprise/government subscription licensing and technology licensing to defense contractors and platform providers that embed the technology into their own offerings (e.g., SRC UK's WASP defense intelligence platform under an October 2025 agreement, and Oakleaf Solutions' GRID ME NOW geo-locating platform). Pricing is not publicly disclosed and all engagements are quote-based; billing cadence is annual. The go-to-market is a hybrid of direct enterprise field sales—targeting CISOs and government decision-makers through AFCEA events, AFWERX challenges, and CEO thought-leadership—and OEM/channel partnerships with defense integrators.
The company's primary customer segment is government, defense, and intelligence, with secondary, still-emerging targets in healthcare, financial services, advanced manufacturing, and AI/data exchange. The May 2026 VeridatAI partnership extends the platform into 'Custody-Free Data Exchange Infrastructure' for AI dataset licensing without custody transfer, with general availability targeted for Q3 2026. The firm has 1–10 employees, holds two granted US utility patents, and completed SOC 2 Type 1 attestation in March 2025.
KnectIQ firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- KnectIQ
- Legal name
- KnectIQ, Inc.
- Website
- https://knectiq.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- KnectIQ is a privately held cybersecurity company that licenses SelectiveTRUST®, a patented Zero Trust trust fabric eliminating stored credentials via ephemeral device-rooted bindings. It serves defense, intelligence, and government customers through direct sales and OEM partnerships in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
KnectIQ industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Zero Trust Cybersecurity Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (51321)
- SIC
- Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Key Management Infrastructure (HSMs, key vaults, MPC/TSS key mgmt, rotation) (FSAPACAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Compliance Identity & KYC/KYB for Wallets (on-chain identity, reusable KYC, travel rule tooling) (FSAPACAL), Governance, Controls & Policy Automation (GRC for Web3) (FSAPAJAG)
Keywords
Where KnectIQ is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Saint Paul
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
KnectIQ business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Technology Licensing: KnectIQ licenses its SelectiveTRUST® technology to defense contractors, technology integrators, and platform providers. SRC UK integrates the technology into its WASP defense intelligence platform under a licensing agreement. The company also licenses technology to Oakleaf Solutions for integration into their GRID ME NOW geo-locating platform. Revenue is generated through licensing fees, technology integration fees, and potentially per-unit or per-deployment royalties.
- Enterprise Software Licensing / Subscription: KnectIQ offers its SelectiveTRUST® technology as a software solution to government agencies, defense organizations, and enterprises, likely through enterprise licensing agreements with annual or multi-year subscription terms.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise and Government Licensing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
KnectIQ product offering
Product offeringCore offering
KnectIQ develops and sells SelectiveTRUST®, a software-defined, programmable trust fabric that establishes device-rooted, verifiable trust relationships to protect data, networks, and AI systems in real time. The technology eliminates the need for stored encryption keys and PKI key management by issuing ephemeral, single-use trust bindings for each authorized exchange. It is quantum-resistant, vendor-neutral, and independently verifiable, and is delivered via enterprise licensing and direct sales to government, defense, financial, and healthcare customers.
Product overview
KnectIQ offers a single unified platform product: SelectiveTRUST®. This is a software-defined data defense technology that serves as a programmable trust fabric. The platform establishes device-rooted, verifiable trust relationships to protect data, networks, and AI systems across domains and mission environments. It enables governments and enterprises to achieve digital sovereignty with cryptographic control while maintaining operational agility. The technology is quantum-resistant and vendor-neutral, requiring no new hardware or infrastructure to deploy.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- SelectiveTRUST® A software-defined data defense platform and programmable trust fabric that establishes device-rooted, verifiable trust relationships to protect data, networks, and AI systems. Delivers quantum-resistant, vendor-neutral, independently verifiable security sovereignty with real-time, controlled trust across multiple domains.
Quantifiable outcome
- Four of every five breaches (80%) are directly related to compromised credentials. KnectIQ's technology prevents silent front-door entry attacks where bad actors use valid credentials, potentially stopping 80% of all breaches.
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use KnectIQ
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
KnectIQ technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature6 records
KnectIQ partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- VeridatAIcoreKnectIQ and VeridatAI announced a strategic partnership to launch 'Custody-Free Data Exchange Infrastructure,' a new category enabling institutional datasets (from hospitals, banks, research universities, industrial operators) to move directly from owner to buyer without custodial intermediaries. VeridatAI integrates KnectIQ's patented SelectiveTRUST® technology as its trust fabric, establishing device-rooted, single-use trust bindings for each authorized exchange while preventing AI agents from forging bindings. The platform is currently in VeridatAI's beta program with general availability targeted for Q3 2026 across healthcare, financial services, and advanced manufacturing sectors.
- SRC UKcoreKnectIQ and SRC UK announced a licensing agreement to integrate KnectIQ's SelectiveTRUST® technology into SRC UK's defense and intelligence platforms, including the World All Source Platform (WASP). The collaboration delivers a sovereign, real-time security fabric for autonomous defense systems, AI, and coalition operations. SRC UK serves customers in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and allied nations. The partnership sets a new global standard for sovereign machine-to-machine trust and real-time security.
- SafeHouse InitiativeminorKnectIQ is a founding member of SafeHouse Initiative alongside ZeroDown Software, Nteraction, Lansweeper, and Canonical. SafeHouse Initiative is an organization dedicated to enhancing cyber risk preparation, mitigation, and response efforts through collective expertise of leading cyber technology providers, IT infrastructure companies, and cyber insurers. KnectIQ brings SelectiveTRUST® as its secure zero trust capability to the initiative.
- Oakleaf SolutionsminorKnectIQ entered into a contract with Oakleaf Solutions, a Silicon Valley-based military contractor. KnectIQ's Trust Environment enables the secure movement of critical data for Oakleaf's GRID ME NOW geo-locating enterprise platform, eliminating threat surfaces associated with current approaches and providing secure authentication for trusted communication between devices including those in wartime theaters.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
KnectIQ competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- BeyondTrust: Privileged access and identity security vendor competing in the same zero trust credential-misuse prevention category. Targets similar enterprise and federal buyers with PAM, session management and credential vaulting capabilities.
- HYPR: Passwordless and decentralized authentication vendor targeting credential-misuse prevention — the same primary problem KnectIQ solves. HYPR competes for the same CISO buyer with a focus on eliminating static credentials.
- CyberArk: Market leader in privileged access management and credential security, directly competing with KnectIQ's promise to prevent credential-based initial intrusions and privilege escalation. CyberArk addresses similar Zero Trust buyer pain points at significantly larger scale.
- HashiCorp: Provides Vault for secrets management and PKI replacement — addressing a related but distinct problem to KnectIQ's ephemeral trust fabric. Both companies target the elimination of static credential stores as attack surfaces.
- Transmit Security: Identity and authentication vendor offering passwordless, fraud-prevention and orchestration tooling — overlapping with KnectIQ's credential-misuse and authorization capabilities, particularly for financial services and large enterprise customers.
Broad incumbents
- Zscaler: Zero trust networking and SSE platform competing in the same 'Zero Trust' category buyers use to evaluate KnectIQ. Zscaler's scale and incumbent position make it the principal broad incumbent peer.
- Okta: Broad identity and access management incumbent whose workforce identity and Zero Trust platform overlaps with KnectIQ's device-rooted authorization model. Okta serves the same enterprise/government buyer segment at substantially greater scale.
- Palo Alto Networks (Prisma Access / Zero Trust): Larger cybersecurity incumbent whose Prisma and Zero Trust portfolio competes for the same CISO budget that KnectIQ targets. Palo Alto brings integrated platform scale versus KnectIQ's standalone fabric approach.
Emerging players
- PQShield: Post-quantum cryptography vendor offering quantum-safe software and silicon IP — directly adjacent to KnectIQ's quantum-resistant trust fabric. PQShield is a relevant emerging peer as the quantum-safe category matures.
- Keyless: Passwordless and biometric authentication vendor addressing the same credential-misuse problem KnectIQ targets, with a focus on privacy-preserving authentication. Smaller-scale emerging competitor in overlapping verticals such as finance.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
KnectIQ social profiles
Digital presenceKnectIQ compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
KnectIQ financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
KnectIQ leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
KnectIQ funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
KnectIQ M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about KnectIQ
What does KnectIQ do?
KnectIQ develops and sells SelectiveTRUST®, a software-defined, programmable trust fabric that establishes device-rooted, verifiable trust relationships to protect data, networks, and AI systems in real time. The technology eliminates the need for stored encryption keys and PKI key management by issuing ephemeral, single-use trust bindings for each authorized exchange. It is quantum-resistant, vendor-neutral, and independently verifiable, and is delivered via enterprise licensing and direct sales to government, defense, financial, and healthcare customers.
Is KnectIQ a public or private company?
KnectIQ is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was KnectIQ founded?
KnectIQ was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is KnectIQ based?
KnectIQ is headquartered in Saint Paul, United States, in the North America region.
How does KnectIQ make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Technology Licensing is the primary driver. The others are enterprise Software Licensing / Subscription.
Who are KnectIQ's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are BeyondTrust, HYPR, CyberArk, HashiCorp and Transmit Security. Broad incumbents are Zscaler, Okta and Palo Alto Networks (Prisma Access / Zero Trust). Emerging players are PQShield and Keyless.
Does KnectIQ have an API?
No public API is recorded for KnectIQ.
What industry is KnectIQ in?
KnectIQ's product category is Zero Trust Cybersecurity Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPACAE, Key Management Infrastructure (HSMs, key vaults, MPC/TSS key mgmt, rotation), with a secondary code of FSAPACAL, Compliance Identity & KYC/KYB for Wallets (on-chain identity, reusable KYC, travel rule tooling). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 6200.