Riya Shanmugam, Founder & CEO, Hawcx | She Pitches, She Wins | TiEcon 2025
“Raise your hand if you’ve reset your password this month.” With that question, Riya Shanmugam, Founder & CEO of Hawcx, immediately tapped into a universal pain point—and introduced a bold vision for a passwordless future.
At TiEcon 2025’s She Pitches, She Wins, Riya delivered a compelling pitch centered on eliminating the number one cause of cybercrime: passwords. Today, 83% of cybercrimes stem from password-related vulnerabilities, costing large enterprises an average of $20 million per breach. Passwords aren’t just a hassle—they’re a billion-dollar problem.
The Problem with “Passwordless” Solutions
While many companies tout “passwordless” authentication—via magic links, OTPs, or hardware tokens—these are either insecure, hard to scale, or inconvenient for users. The most secure option today is passkey technology, but it relies heavily on Apple, Google, and Microsoft working seamlessly together.
“That’s a huge risk,” Riya explained. “If you’re a bank like Wells Fargo, you can’t rely on platform providers to make your login secure.”
Hawcx: A Platform-Agnostic, Future-Ready Solution
Enter Hawcx: a platform-agnostic passwordless authentication solution that eliminates the limitations of current passkey systems. Hawcx isn’t built on top of existing protocols—it’s built around them, delivering seamless, secure login experiences that don’t depend on tech giants’ cooperation.
Hawcx serves B2B enterprises—especially in finance, retail, and health tech, industries where password-related risks are highest. Companies integrate Hawcx via lightweight SDKs for web and mobile, enabling faster deployment without the need to overhaul existing infrastructure.
Backed by Experience, Powered by Innovation
The Hawx founding team brings heavyweight credibility:
- Riya Shanmugam herself has held senior leadership roles at Google, Adobe, and New Relic, driving billions in revenue.
- One co-founder is a cryptography scientist with over 100 patents.
- The other is a CTO advisor to the states of California and Texas.
Together, they’ve built a 10-person team and recently closed a $3 million pre-seed round, gaining recognition from TechCrunch for their breakthrough work in passwordless security.
A Password-Free Future
The passwordless authentication market, valued at $20 billion today, is expected to hit $60 billion within a decade—and Hawx is ready to lead that charge.
“We are here to put passwords to bed once and for all,” Riya concluded. “It’s time to rewrite how the internet logs in.”