• Overhauled C-suite to prepare for next chapter of growth
• Bank advisory appointments at least six months away
• Shopify provides model for dual listing in US and Canada

Identity security firm 1Password is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering, but it is unlikely to pursue a listing before late 2026, according to CEO David Faugno.

Faugno, who became CEO late last year after serving as president and COO, said the Toronto-based company is not targeting a specific IPO window, although it has built out its executive team and operational infrastructure in preparation for the public markets.

“We have all the characteristics to become a public company. But the reality is we don’t have any unnatural pressures to do it,” Faugno said on the sidelines of Web Summit in Lisbon.

Many of the investors in the cap table arrived recently and are long on the company, he said, noting that it completed a USD 100m secondary sale last month to provide liquidity for founders and tenured employees. The Halo Fund, established earlier this year by Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and Accel partner Ryan Sweeney, purchased a large stake in the sale.

“We absolutely believe public markets are in our future, but we’re not thinking about any particular window that we have to run into or work back from,” said Faugno, who first became involved with 1Password six years ago as a venture partner at Accel.

“What we are doing is hiring the team that can take us there, putting systems and processes in place so that when we make that decision, it’s just the decision itself standing in the way.”

To that end, the company underwent a broad executive refresh this year as it positions for scale. Recent hires include CFO Greg Henry, who led Couchbase’s public offering; President Michael Hughes, a former ChargePoint and Barracuda Networks executive; Chief Business Officer John Torrey, a former Qualtrics executive; and Chief Product Officer Abe Ankumah.

Faugno, who helped lead Qualtrics’ and Barracuda Networks’ stock listings in 2021 and 2013, respectively, said 1Password already operates with public-company rigor, including internal quarterly reporting, audit committee oversight, and an emphasis on predictable, repeatable performance.

“That’s a good discipline for running your business anyway,” he said.

The company, which provides password management and identity security software, recently surpassed USD 400m in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and is “very profitable,” Faugno noted.

1Password has about 180,000 customers and reports 90% gross retention, he added.

While investment banks have been circling, Faugno said no IPO mandates have been issued and market speculation about an upcoming bake-off is “wishful thinking” on the part of advisors, adding that a newswire report that it interviewed banks in 2024 for an IPO was erroneous.

He said a bakeoff is likely at least six months away and that it would be impractical to execute on a stock listing before the end of 2026. “It would be highly unlikely for us to change course before that timeframe,” he said. In the meantime, it is focused on building its business and responding to the way artificial intelligence is changing how software applications work.

Dual listing likely

Although headquartered nominally in Toronto, 1Password’s executive team is in the US.

Faugno said a dual listing on either the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange plus the Toronto Stock Exchange is the most likely structure, mirroring Ottawa-based Shopify’s approach.

“We’d probably look to the Shopify model to manage the aspect of being a Canadian parent with TSX roots, but with an investor base that aligns more with US markets,” he said.

Faugno said the firm’s strong financial profile — profitable growth with large cash reserves — allows it to invest in talent and technology without needing to rush into capital markets.

When it does go public, 1Password could be compared to other identity security firms with similar growth profiles like CyberArk, Netskope, and SailPoint, he said. Highly scaled tech companies such as ServiceTitan, Qualtrics, and Atlassian with long-term durable growth rates, deep moats, and high customer retention may be used as wider comps, he added.

1Password will continue to pursue selective M&A, he said, with a focus on technology and talent that advance its “extended access management” vision — a system for managing human and AI identities across devices and applications.

In the past, the company has acquired teams of 50 to 100 people, but Faugno declined to disclose deal prices. He said 1Password is unlikely to make a transformational acquisition, but it stays “open-minded” about large deals.

In addition to credential management, application governance, and device identity, the company sees adjacencies it feels it has “a right to play in” and bring onto its platform. He declined to provide specifics around those adjacencies, citing competitive pressures.

As AI-driven tools proliferate, Faugno said identity and access security have become even more critical and it seeks targets that respond to automated threats. It also seeks tools to incorporate agentic workflows into its access management system, he added.

The company actively reviews acquisition targets and tends to find opportunities through relationships it has developed, especially where there is strong philosophical alignment.

He described 1Password’s strategy as building the “trust layer of AI” by integrating with partners such as CrowdStrike, Zscaler, and AWS to secure both human and machine identities. “We’re focused on being everywhere our customers are, as AI reshapes workflows,” he said.