Passwordless Authentication Startup Raises $53M

An Israeli startup that lets users sign into apps without passwords has raised $53 million.

Descope verifies users through their unique fingerprint, retina scan, or magic links – clicking an emailed link rather than typing in their username and password.

The company says the benefit for app developers is that they can go live within minutes, using a drag-and-drop visual editor and minimum code.

Passwords are the leading cause of security breaches, and are known to cause negative experiences for users.

Over 80 percent of hacking-related breaches used stolen passwords and/or weak passwords, according to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report.

Passwordless authentication is a good solution, but only if application developers have the tools to apply it. 

“What my founding team and I have learned from years of experience is that authentication is never finished for any application,” said Slavik Markovich, Co-Founder and CEO of Descope. 

“We have built authentication and user management in-house for both business and consumer apps in our past lives.

“Every time, what started out as a sprint line item turned into a multi-year investment, taking our focus away from what we were meant to do. 

“Our vision is to ‘de-scope’ authentication from every app developer’s daily work, so they can focus on business-critical initiatives without worrying about building, maintaining, or updating authentication.”

The investment was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and GGV Capital, with participation from Unusual Ventures and others. Notable individual investors include Assaf Rappaport, Co-founder and CEO of Wiz, and John W. Thompson, Lead Independent Director at Microsoft.

Descope was founded in 2022, and is based in Tel Aviv.

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