Password administration platform 1Password raises $100M as enterprise booms

Password administration platform 1Password has raised $100 million in an Accel-led spherical of funding at a $2 billion valuation.

The increase comes sizzling on the heels of a slew of product bulletins from the Canadian firm, together with its enlargement into secrets and techniques administration to assist enterprises safe their infrastructure; a brand new API that permits safety groups to funnel 1Password sign-in knowledge straight into cybersecurity instruments comparable to Splunk; and a brand new Linux desktop app geared toward DevOps groups.

The final word downside that 1Password is setting out remedy is that the overwhelming majority of information breaches are as a result of compromised passwords. 1Password targets companies like Slack, IBM, and GitLab with a platform that permits customers to retailer passwords securely and log into myriad on-line companies with a single click on. It can be used to retailer different non-public paperwork, comparable to software program licenses and bank card particulars.

The Toronto-based firm raised its first ever spherical of funding in its then 14-year historical past again in 2019, when it secured $200 million from Accel, Slack (by way of Slack Fund), and Atlassian’s founders, amongst different angel traders. Within the almost two years since, the corporate stated it has nearly doubled its variety of paying enterprise prospects to 90,000, and hit $120 million in annual recurring income (ARR).

In response to 1Password CEO Jeff Shiner, whereas a number of components have aligned to drive demand for password administration instruments, the one largest change since its final fundraise has been society’s fast transition from places of work to distant or hybrid working.

“Companies — each massive and small — have been compelled in a single day to undertake a distant means of working,” Shiner instructed VentureBeat. “That swap meant that corporations, most of whom have been used to a centralized workplace, all of a sudden wanted to help staff utilizing their very own units, at house on their very own probably insecure networks. With the remote-hybrid shift got here a proliferation of SaaS instruments to assist maintain individuals and groups productive. Many of those instruments are introduced in to assist particular groups remedy particular issues, which implies that throughout a company, there will be a whole lot of various software program merchandise — all requiring distinctive logins and entry.”

Serving to staff keep on high of all their login credentials is the place 1Password comes into play.

The password downside

Quite a few corporations are tackling the so-called “password downside” by making an attempt to take away the password from the equation altogether, leveraging “magic hyperlinks” which might be despatched by electronic mail or biometric smarts. Decentralized passwordless authentication platform Magic introduced a $27 million increase simply final week, which adopted shortly after Transmit Safety raised $543 million at a hefty $2.3 billion valuation and Past Identification locked down $75 million. Elsewhere, two juggernauts from the id and entry administration (IAM) sphere joined forces in Could when Okta acquired Auth0 for an eye-popping $6.5 billion.

1Password, for its half, has additionally embraced varied types of passwordless authentication, together with integrating with Apple’s Contact ID and Face ID to allow customers to unlock 1Password utilizing their fingerprint or face, in addition to help for 2FA {hardware} keys comparable to Yubikey. Shiner additionally hinted at some potential new merchandise that relate to passwordless authentication that he expects to launch within the coming months.

“We’re intently watching the passwordless house and the way it matures over the approaching years, however regardless of the future holds we might be there to help our prospects in essentially the most safe and personal method potential,” he stated.

Nonetheless, Shiner famous that some challenges stay if a really passwordless future is realized.

“For instance, biometrics are perfect for authentication in lots of conditions, as they actually convey your distinctive bodily presence,” Shiner stated. “However utilizing biometrics broadly opens up the query of what occurs if knowledge about, say, your fingerprints or face is stolen and will be manipulated by attackers to impersonate you. And when you can change your password on a whim, your face, fingerprint, voice, or heartbeat are a lot, a lot more durable to swap out.”

Searching for ‘companions’

Shiner stated that whereas his firm continues to be very a lot worthwhile and wasn’t actively searching for new funding, the chance to convey on board myriad new traders — which he refers to as “companions” — from throughout trade was too good to show down. Certainly, for its newest fundraise, a slew of recent institutional and angel traders entered the fray, together with Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, Kim Jackson’s Skip Capital, Slack cofounder and CEO Stewart Butterfield, Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke, Squarespace CEO Anthony Caselana, and Eventbrite cofounder Kevin Hartz.

It’s clear from its latest product launches that the corporate hasn’t been resting on its laurels, and its newest money injection will go a way towards making certain it continues on a trajectory to garner a much bigger share of the $1.3 billion password administration market. And with a stellar lineup of angel traders on board — individuals who have constructed main know-how companies themselves — he’s in good firm.

“We have now quite a bit occurring with our product, and can proceed to push ahead with new options and functions that serve our prospects,” Shiner stated. “The partnerships with the know-how leaders on this spherical is a facet we’re actually wanting ahead to — these people have taken corporations that began similar to 1Password, and have formed them into the family names they’re immediately.”