A password-free future

Goleta-based Allthenticate offers app designed for security and ease of use

The key to your door is your smartphone.

Thanks to Allthenticate’s technology, doors unlock when you walk up to them and computers unlock when you simply press “enter.”

And your password?

You don’t need one. Not for any of it as long as you carry your phone.

That’s the world of security as envisioned by Allthenticate, a Goleta-based unified authentication and access control company. 

This week, Allthenticate — a play on the word “authenticate” — announced its seed round funding of $3,133,337, which spells out “elite” in hacker language.

The company is getting financing from Silverton Partners with investments from Amplify and Ping Identity.
Allthenticate’s mission is to make security products that are fun, easy to use and secure. Its current services let organizations use their smartphones to unlock and log in to everything: doors, computers, websites and servers. 

For the most part, it all happens automatically.

Only in security-critical instances will users be prompted for a secure biometric or a PIN, as determined by its users. 

“The idea was co-founder Dr. Chad Spensky’s,” Rita Mounir, co-founder and chief operating officer, told the News-Press. “He used his training in technology to do research and see if this idea was viable. We met in 2019, and we began building the company.”

Dr. Spensky, the CEO, discussed the idea behind Allthenticate in a news release.

“The internet desperately needs an authentication overhaul,” he said. “Our current ecosystem is cumbersome, limits innovation and has numerous security shortcomings. I have dedicated my career to this problem and feel very fortunate to have the support to continue to develop our technology and bring it to the masses.

“The feedback from our early customers has been incredibly positive, which is only compounding the excitement here at Allthenticate,” Dr. Spensky said.

“The vision is to never use a key or password ever again. I don’t even have keys to my own office. It’s 2022 cars driving themselves. The idea is to make it as seamless as possible.”

Ms. Mounir said, “E-voting and unlocking cars could be completely replaced with the phone app. It is a phone app, called the Allthenticator app. There is a smartdoor reader installed by doors, which would enable unlocking without keys. The Allthenticator app also enables you to log into websites without passwords.

“The company was born at the University of California Santa Barbara, and we opened a new office in Houston, Texas. We are trying to grow our Santa Barbara base and make as many Santa Barbara customers as happy as possible,” said Ms. Mounir. 

Allthenticate’s partners expressed confidence in the business.

“Silverton has a long history of working with leaders who have pushed boundaries in identity, governance, and access management,” said Silverton’s managing partner, Morgan Flager, in a news release. 

“Upon meeting Chad and Rita, we recognized Allthenticate’s technology as having the potential to be paradigm-shifting for the industry,” Mr. Flager said. “What the team has accomplished with modest financial resources to date is impressive. We are excited and honored to partner with Allthenticate to accelerate our shared vision of creating a safer and more secure world without passwords.”

Connor Sundberg of Amplify, one of Allthenticate’s investors, echoed that.

“We’re excited to support the Allthenticate team in their mission to accelerate a truly passwordless future and what that means for the opportunity to improve and modernize the security stack for enterprises everywhere,” he said. “Companies use a range of products and often staple together solutions across password management, authentication and access.

“Allthenticate creates a seamless command center for all of this.”
email: kzehnder@newspress.com

FYI

For more about Allthenticate, go to allthenticate.net.