LOS ALTOS, Calif., Nov. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Descope, a developer-friendly customer and agentic identity platform, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has included Descope on its 2026 Stellar Startups list in the Security category. This prestigious list highlights fast-rising technology vendors that are driving innovation and fostering growth in the IT channel with groundbreaking products. This is the second consecutive year Descope has been named to the list.
Companies recognized as Stellar Startups must be six years old or younger, and they are selected across categories that include artificial intelligence, business applications, cloud, data center, data platforms and analytics, edge computing/Internet of Things, networking/unified communications, security and storage.
Descope gives organizations a no/low code way to build and secure identity journeys for their customers, partners, and AI agents. Security teams use Descope Flows, a drag-and-drop workflow editor, to add passwordless authentication, phishing-resistant MFA, and fraud prevention controls at the right point in each journey without disrupting the user experience. The Agentic Identity Hub gives AI agents and MCP servers their own identities, with an agent directory, least-privilege access enforced at runtime, and human approval of sensitive agent actions.
Over the past year, Descope expanded how partners and public sector buyers can bring its platform to their clients. Descope partnered with IDMWORKS, an identity and access management consultancy with more than 2,500 IAM implementations, to deliver strategic guidance, implementation, and managed services. Descope also became a supplier on the UK government’s G-Cloud 15 framework, so eligible UK public sector organizations can procure Descope without running a full tender. In October 2026, Descope was recognized as the only Visionary in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM).
This annual list serves as an invaluable resource for solution providers making business-critical strategic decisions and exploring new technologies and services to add their portfolios to give them a competitive advantage and drive success.
“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.”
“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.
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.
© 2026 The Channel Company, Inc. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Contacts
Christine Penwell
Offleash for Descope
descope@offleashpr.com
Kristin DaSilva
The Channel Company
kdasilva@thechannelcompany.com
