Bitwarden, an open-source password supervisor for enterprises and customers, has raised $100 million in a spherical of funding led by PSG, with participation type Battery Ventures.
Based initially again in 2015, Santa Barbara, California-based Bitwarden operates in an area that features well-known incumbents together with 1Password, which just lately hit a $6.8 billion valuation off the again of a $620 million fundraise, and Lastpass, which was just lately spun out as an impartial firm once more two years after touchdown within the fingers of personal fairness companies.
In a nutshell, Bitwarden and its ilk make it simpler for folks to generate safe passwords routinely, and retailer all their distinctive passwords and delicate data comparable to bank card information in a safe digital vault, saving them from reusing the identical insecure password throughout all their on-line accounts.
Bitwarden’s large differentiator, in fact, lies in the truth that it’s constructed atop an open-source codebase, which for tremendous security-conscious people and companies is an effective factor — they will totally examine the inner-workings of the platform. Furthermore, folks can contribute again to the codebase and expedite improvement of recent options.
On high of a primary free service, Bitwarden ships a bunch of paid-for premium options and companies, together with superior enterprise options like single sign-on (SSO) integrations and identification administration.
It’s price noting that at the moment’s “minority progress funding” represents Bitwarden’s first substantial exterior funding in its seven yr historical past, although we’re informed that it did elevate a small undisclosed collection A spherical again in 2019. Its newest money injection is indicative of how the world has modified within the intervening years. The rise of distant work, with folks more and more meshing private and work accounts on the identical gadgets, means the identical password is used throughout totally different companies. And such poor password and credential hygiene places companies at nice danger.
Moreover, rising competitors and investments within the administration house signifies that Bitwarden can’t relaxation on its laurels — it must increase, and that’s what its funds might be used for. Certainly, Bitwarden has confirmed plans to increase its providing into a number of aligned safety and privateness verticals, together with secrets and techniques administration — one thing that 1Password expanded into final yr by way of its SecretHub acquisition.
“The timing of the funding is right, as we increase into alternatives in developer secrets and techniques, passwordless applied sciences, and authentication,” Bitwarden CEO Michael Crandell famous in a press launch. “Most significantly, we intention to proceed to serve all Bitwarden customers for the lengthy haul.”