Bitwarden Unlocks $100M To Manage Passwords

The world is ruled by passwords, but no one enjoys managing the plethora we all have of them.

That’s likely why investors found Bitwarden compelling. The Santa Barbara, California-based startup helps manage passwords for both businesses and individuals, and announced Tuesday it secured a new $100 million growth round.

The round was led by PSG with participation from existing investor Battery Ventures.

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Bitwarden offers free and paid versions of its password management platform, which includes features such as credential autofill, automatic end-user password generation, and password strength scoring.

“The rapidly expanding Bitwarden customer base, including small and large companies alike, combined with a highly engaged community, in our view, continues to set Bitwarden apart from other solutions,” said CEO Michael Crandell in a release. “The timing of the investment is ideal, as we expand into opportunities in developer secrets, passwordless technologies, and authentication.”

Growing password problems

Password management has become big business in the cybersecurity world as phishing attacks and threats are leading problems facing IT departments around the world. Employees working from home—or both home and office—have exacerbated the problem, and many use their devices for both professional and personal reasons.

Bitwarden is not the only cyber startup offering password management tools to raise cash in 2022. Earlier this year, Toronto-based 1Password closed a $620 million Series C led by Iconiq Growth that brought the cybersecurity firm’s valuation to $6.8 billion. Other big-name firms, such as Tiger Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Accel, also participated in the round.

It marks the largest round raised by a Canadian company.

Overall, cybersecurity funding has slightly slowed this year. Last year, VC-backed cybersecurity firms raised nearly $23 billion in funding—a new record—according to Crunchbase data.

This year’s overall numbers are trending below that number, with startups collecting just less than $12 billion thus far.

Illustration: Dom Guzman