1Password buys Apono to control AI agent access to credentials

1Password acquired Apono this morning, a deal that gives the Toronto password manager a way to govern how AI agents and machines use corporate credentials.

The company sells software for storing and securing passwords. Apono, based in New York, built a system that grants, monitors, and revokes access to credentials dynamically – deciding who gets in, for how long, and why. 1Password plans to fold that into a new product called the Unified Access Platform, aimed at companies deploying autonomous AI without exposing sensitive systems.

“It’s a critical unlock of the vision that we’ve got,” CEO David Faugno told BetaKit in an interview. “But we’re not going to rest on our laurels there. That gives us the opportunity to build a much, much bigger business than we ever envisioned.”

Financial terms were not disclosed. Apono’s 80 employees join 1Password’s 1,400-person team and will stay in New York and Tel Aviv. The deal is 1Password’s fifth acquisition and the third in what Faugno calls its AI era, following Kolide in 2024 and Trelica in 2025. He said it accelerates the product roadmap “pretty materially.”