Halo Fund, a new $1 billion growth fund established by Ryan Smith and Ryan Sweeney, has announced a strategic secondary investment in 1Password, a company specializing in identity security and Extended Access Management. This investment highlights ongoing interest from investors and innovators in 1Password’s development.
Flume Ventures, with Sun Microsystems founder Scott McNealy and former Zscaler Chief Strategy Officer Manoj Apte, also participated in this investment. The transaction represents Halo Fund’s initial cybersecurity investment, aligning with its strategy to support companies leading technological advancements. Halo Fund was founded to assist transformative companies in scaling through the integration of technology, sports, and entertainment. 1Password was selected as its anchor cybersecurity investment due to its brand, enterprise growth, and its vision for modern identity security in the AI era. 1Password maintains a cash-flow positive status and serves over 175,000 business customers, including a significant portion of the Forbes AI 50, alongside millions of individual users.
Ryan Smith, Co-Founder and General Partner at Halo Fund, stated that 1Password possesses both the trust of millions of users and the ambition to define the future of identity security. He added that identity and security are central to the adoption and trustworthiness of AI, and 1Password’s vision, leadership, and products are positioned to unlock the potential of this technological shift.
Ryan Sweeney, Co-Founder and General Partner at Halo Fund, noted 1Password’s established reputation in security. He explained that as demand for agentic AI increases and security measures evolve, Halo Fund and 1Password identify an opportunity to offer agentic AI Access Management solutions for secure and responsible adoption. Sweeney emphasized that Halo Fund supports enduring companies reshaping industries, and 1Password is fulfilling this role in identity security, particularly in securing agentic systems and AI-driven workflows.
David Faugno, CEO of 1Password, commented that the partnership with Halo Fund validates 1Password’s current trajectory and future vision. He stated that 1Password is redefining identity security for SaaS and agentic AI, providing enterprises with confidence to navigate new work paradigms. Faugno believes this partnership will accelerate 1Password’s growth and reinforce its ambition to shape trust in an AI-driven environment.
Earlier this year, 1Password introduced Agentic AI Security, offering enterprises governance for AI automation. It also launched an MCP server for SaaS visibility in AWS-native workflows, became a security partner for Perplexity’s Comet browser to enhance AI browsing safety, and released Agentic Autofill with Browserbase to provide AI agents with a secure credential layer for real-time decision-making. These developments underscore 1Password’s role as an identity layer for both human users and AI systems.
Halo Fund focuses on high-potential businesses, aiming to accelerate their growth by integrating them with technology, sports, and entertainment platforms. Founded by Ryan Smith and Ryan Sweeney, drawing on their experience at Qualtrics, Accel, the Utah Jazz, and the Utah Mammoth, the firm combines operational and investment expertise. Halo Fund’s approach emphasizes leveraging cultural momentum to achieve market penetration and engagement with target audiences, helping portfolio companies scale in dynamic markets.
