Ethiopian Founder Raises $5M for Open Source Authentication Tool
TLDR
- Bereket Engida, a self-taught Ethiopian developer, has raised $5 million in seed funding for Better Auth, an open-source authentication tool
- He created the project in response to repeated frustrations with rigid, hosted authentication platforms like Auth0, Firebase, and NextAuth
- Investors in the round include Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India & SEA), Y Combinator, P1 Ventures, and Chapter One
Bereket Engida, a self-taught Ethiopian developer, has raised $5 million in seed funding for Better Auth, an open-source authentication tool that’s gaining rapid traction among developers, particularly in the AI startup space. Investors in the round include Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India & SEA), Y Combinator, P1 Ventures, and Chapter One.
What makes Better Auth stand out isn’t just its backers—it’s that Engida built the tool entirely from Ethiopia before ever setting foot in the U.S. He created the project in response to repeated frustrations with rigid, hosted authentication platforms like Auth0, Firebase, and NextAuth. His tool enables developers to integrate authentication directly into their codebase, manage permissions and roles, and keep user data on-premise.
Since its launch on GitHub in September 2024, Better Auth has garnered over 150,000 weekly downloads, 15,000 GitHub stars, and a growing community of more than 6,000 members on Discord.
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Key Takeaways
Bereket Engida’s journey is rare: a solo founder from Africa building a developer tool that’s gaining global adoption, particularly among AI startups needing flexible, scalable authentication. Better Auth’s open source approach gives developers complete control—no vendor lock-in, no external data storage, and no bloated costs The tool’s appeal lies in its simplicity: developers can implement complex auth features like teams, roles, and token management in a few lines of TypeScript, and deploy everything directly onto their databases. For fast-moving AI startups with custom backend needs, Better Auth solves a real pain point. The traction has been organic, driven by developers rather than marketing. And it’s meaningful: this is Peak XV’s first direct investment in an African founder, and only the third Ethiopian-led startup to go through Y Combinator, following Avion and BeU Delivery. Engida is now preparing to launch paid enterprise infrastructure built on top of the open-source core, allowing businesses to self-host or opt into cloud-based services. He’s still writing most of the code himself but plans to build a small team focused on scaling the product while maintaining its strong community roots.
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