Bitwardenan open-source password manager for businesses and consumers, has raised $100 million in a funding round led by PSG, with the participation of Battery Ventures.
Bitwarden, originally founded in 2015, Santa Barbara, California-based Bitwarden operates in a space that includes well-known incumbents such as 1Password, which recently reached a valuation of $6.8 billion thanks to a $620 million fundraiser, and Lastpass, which used to be recently drawn out two years after landing in the hands of private equity firms again as an independent company.
In a nutshell, Bitwarden and its ilk are making it easier for people to automatically generate hard-to-guess passwords and store them all in a secure digital vault – it’s about helping people avoid using the same predictable password again for all of their online accounts.
In addition to the basic free service, which gives individuals access to unlimited password storage across platforms, Bitwarden provides a number of paid premium tools and services, including advanced business features such as single sign-on (SSO) integrations and identity management. The big differentiator of Bitwarden, of course, lies in the fact that it is built on top an open source code base, which is a good thing for super security-conscious individuals and companies, as it allows them to fully inspect the inner workings of the platform. In addition, people can contribute to the codebase and accelerate the development of new features.
Bitwarden
Password Hygiene
It’s worth noting that today’s “minority investment in growth” represents Bitwarden’s first fully disclosed outside funding in its seven-year history, though businesskinda.com has been reliably informed that the company will indeed launch an as-yet-undisclosed Series A in 2019. did round.
However, the latest cash injection is indicative of how the world has changed in recent years: The rise of remote working means that people often combine personal and business accounts on the same devices, while potentially using the same password for their countless online accounts. Such poor password hygiene puts businesses at risk, which is why they are looking for ways to encourage their staff to use security-focused tools, such as password managers, instead.
“Our investment in Bitwarden reflects our belief that the password management market is poised for significant growth as online account usage grows and security concerns increase in the hybrid work environment,” noted PSG CEO Tom Reardon in a press release.
Plus, growing competition and VC investment in password management means Bitwarden can’t rest on its laurels — it needs to expand, which is what its funds will be used for. The company confirmed plans to expand its offering into several aligned security and privacy verticals, including secret management — something 1Password expanded through its SecretHub acquisition last year.
“The timing of the investment is ideal as we expand into developer secrets, passwordless technologies and authentication capabilities,” said Michael Crandell, CEO of Bitwarden. “Most importantly, we strive to continue serving all Bitwarden users for the long term.”
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