Descope, a developer-friendly customer and agentic identity platform, has been named to CRN's 2026 Stellar Startups list in the Security category. The recognition, awarded by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, highlights emerging technology vendors driving innovation and growth across the IT channel.
This marks the second consecutive year Descope has been included on the annual list, which recognizes companies six years old or younger across several technology categories.
CRN recognition: Descope has earned a place on the 2026 Stellar Startups list in the Security category for the second consecutive year.
Identity platform: Descope enables organizations to build and secure identity journeys for customers, partners, and AI agents through no-code and low-code tools.
Agentic Identity Hub: The platform gives AI agents and MCP servers dedicated identities, with least-privilege access controls and human approval for sensitive actions.
Channel expansion: Descope partnered with IDMWORKS to expand implementation and managed services for identity and access management.
Public sector availability: Descope became a supplier on the UK's G-Cloud 15 framework, enabling eligible public sector organizations to procure its platform.
Industry recognition: In October 2026, Descope was named the only Visionary in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Customer Identity and Access Management.
CRN's annual Stellar Startups list recognizes emerging technology vendors developing products and services that support innovation and growth across the IT channel. Companies included in the list must be six years old or younger.
The 2026 list spans categories including artificial intelligence, business applications, cloud, data center, data platforms and analytics, edge computing and the Internet of Things, networking and unified communications, security, and storage.
For solution providers, the list serves as a resource when evaluating technologies and services to add to their portfolios and making strategic business decisions.
Descope's inclusion in the Security category for a second consecutive year reflects its focus on customer identity and access management, as well as identity controls for AI agents.
Descope provides organizations with a no-code and low-code approach to building and securing identity journeys for customers, partners, and AI agents.
Its visual workflow editor, Descope Flows, allows security teams to incorporate passwordless authentication, phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA), and fraud prevention controls into identity journeys without disrupting the user experience.
The company's Agentic Identity Hub extends identity management to AI agents and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. It provides dedicated identities for agents, an agent directory, least-privilege access enforcement at runtime, and human approval for sensitive agent actions.
These capabilities are designed to help organizations manage access and security as they introduce AI agents into business processes and customer-facing environments.
Over the past year, Descope has expanded its partner ecosystem and procurement opportunities for public sector organizations.
The company partnered with IDMWORKS, an identity and access management consultancy with more than 2,500 IAM implementations. The collaboration is intended to provide customers with strategic guidance, implementation support, and managed services.
Descope also became a supplier on the UK's G-Cloud 15 framework, allowing eligible public sector organizations in the UK to procure its platform without conducting a full tender process.
In October 2026, the company received further industry recognition when it was named the only Visionary in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM).
Together, these developments highlight Descope's efforts to expand its reach through channel partners and public sector procurement while strengthening its position in customer and agentic identity security.
Descope said its latest CRN recognition reinforces its commitment to working with systems integrators, resellers, and consultancies to bring modern identity solutions to enterprise customers.
“Channel partners are often the first call when an enterprise rethinks customer identity or starts putting AI agents in front of its users,” said Rishi Bhargava, Co-Founder of Descope. “Being named a CRN Stellar Startup for a second year tells us that partners see Descope as a platform they can build an identity practice around. We will keep working with systems integrators, resellers, and consultancies to bring flexible, modern customer and agentic identity to their clients.”
Jennifer Follett, Vice President, U.S. Content, Executive Editor at CRN, The Channel Company, also highlighted the role of the recognized vendors in advancing the IT channel.
“We’re proud to recognize the innovative companies featured on this year’s Stellar Startups list,” said Jennifer Follett, Vice President, U.S. Content, Executive Editor at CRN, The Channel Company. “These organizations are redefining what’s possible in the IT channel by bringing fresh ideas, transformative technologies and a strong commitment to partner success. We look forward to seeing the impact they continue to make across the industry.”
Coverage of the 2026 CRN Stellar Startups list is available at crn.com/StellarStartups.
As enterprises expand customer-facing digital services and adopt AI agents, identity management is becoming an important part of their security strategies. Descope's recognition by CRN highlights the growing role of customer and agentic identity solutions in the IT channel.
About Descope
Descope is a developer-friendly customer and agentic identity platform. Organizations use our visual workflows, SDKs, APIs, and MCP server to easily create and customize identity journeys for their customers, partners, and AI agents. 1000+ organizations use Descope to streamline customer and agent onboarding, prevent account takeover, and securely adopt AI agents and MCP servers with built-in identity controls. Learn more at www.descope.com.
About The Channel Company
The Channel Company (TCC) is the global leader in channel growth for the world’s top technology brands. We accelerate success across strategic channels for tech vendors, solution providers and end users with premier media brands, integrated marketing and event services, strategic consulting, and exclusive market and audience insights. TCC is a portfolio company of investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm. For more information, visit thechannelco.com.
