Opened Laptop

Press Releases

Berlin/Kiel |

adesso ventures invests in passkeys start-up Hanko

adesso ventures, the venture capital arm of the adesso Group, is investing in passkeys start-up Hanko. A new way to sign in that works completely without passwords, passkeys enable easy and secure access to apps, accounts and websites.

Passkeys are considered to be the authentication method of the future. They use 2-factor authentication, which combines a biometric feature (fingerprints, facial recognition) and proof-of-possession (mobile phone, hardware token). As such, this technology does away with cumbersome and risky passwords. The use of passkeys is becoming more and more widespread. At the beginning of May this year, Google announced that passkeys can now be used as a way to log into Google accounts.

adesso ventures sees tremendous market potential in passkeys and is investing a single-digit million figure in the start-up Hanko, together with existing investors High-Tech Gründerfonds, Smart Infrastructure Ventures, PAYONE founders Carl Frederic Zitscher and Jan Kanieß, as well as Intershop co-founder Roland Fassauer. Hanko specialises in login and authentication solutions such as passkeys, passcodes, FIDO Security Keys, mobile app biometrics and OAuth login. The company offers an open-source solution that is particularly developer-friendly and can be integrated in a matter of minutes. The Kiel-based start-up is a member of the FIDO Alliance, the industry association dedicated to the development of authentication standards, whose members include the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Google and Apple.

The stake in Hanko is the latest investment by adesso ventures in B2B technology start-ups. “We are constantly scanning the start-up scene for interesting companies that are still at an early stage,” says Malte Unger, Managing Director at adesso ventures GmbH. “Our focus is on promising European tech start-ups that are deeply integrated in the industries relevant to adesso. The strong team and the promising solution are turning the vision of a passwordless internet into reality.”


Malte Unger, Managing Director at adesso ventures GmbH (Copyright: adesso)

“In adesso ventures, we have found an investor that is a perfect fit for us for many reasons,” says Felix Magedanz, founder and CEO of Hanko. “adesso is an established player in the IT business. It is considered a technology pioneer and also boasts a high-calibre customer base and an excellent partner network including tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and AWS. Together, we can take passkeys technology to the next level.”



Felix Magedanz, founder and CEO at Hanko (Copyright: Hanko)


Press service

Materials for media reports

With our press service, we provide you with various materials that complement our corporate news or serve as background information.

To the press service


Do you have any questions?

Do you have any questions about our press service or a specific request? Please contact us.

Contact

Save this page. Remove this page.