// startup autopsy

Clickpass

An OpenID single sign-on pioneer that got absorbed before the passwordless wave arrived.

timingAcqui-hire

Fatal mistake: Bet on OpenID as the dominant identity standard before mass consumer adoption materialized, leaving the product without a large enough addressable market.

Founded	2007
Closed	2010
Country	USA
Sector	Cybersecurity

50%

Key Events Timeline

2007-01

FOUNDING

Clickpass founded in the USA to build an OpenID-based single sign-on platform.

2007-06

FUNDING

Raised $0.02M in seed funding to develop the identity management product.

2008-09

DOWN ROUND

Facebook Connect launched, signaling that tech giants would dominate the identity layer, marginalizing OpenID startups.

2009-06

DOWN ROUND

Consumer OpenID adoption stagnated; Clickpass struggled to demonstrate meaningful user growth.

2010-01

SHUTDOWN

Clickpass was acquired in an acqui-hire, ending its independent operation.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

Clickpass built an OpenID-based single sign-on solution but was acqui-hired before achieving significant scale. The startup faced fundamental market challenges: the identity management sector was highly competi...

tive with established players, and consumer adoption of OpenID remained limited, constraining growth potential. With only $0.02M raised, the company lacked sufficient capital to sustain operations lon

Verified lesson

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HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

Clickpass raised €0.02M before bet on openid as the dominant identity standard before mass consumer adoption materialized, leaving the product without a large enough addressable market. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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