Hoyos Labs planning for IPO next year: Bloomberg

Hoyos Labs founder, chairman and CEO Hector Hoyos said he is planning an initial public offering for next year after launching the company less than two years ago, according to a report by Bloomberg Businessweek.

The company is looking to capitalize following the launch of 1U, the company’s new app that uses an advanced “liveness” detection system to identify the smartphone owner by an image or video and therefore granting them access to non-standard sites that require private information in addition to usernames and passwords.

Hoyos Labs’ biometric authentication solution enables consumers to use a mobile phone to scan their face, iris or fingerprint to conduct ATM transactions, log into a website and make mobile payments.

Currently, there are nine financial institutions worldwide that are trialing its biometric authentication technology as part of their own mobile banking app, with one bank transitioning from testing to implementation stage.

Unlike its competitors, Hoyo Labs’ technology uses an existing wireless company network to securely transmit encrypted data between the phone and the bank, as opposed to other technology like Bluetooth.

“I will guarantee that you will not be skimmed, period,” Hoyos said. “And I’ll back that up with an insurance policy.”

Hoyos said the company charges banks 12 to 25 cents a customer per month.

Founded in early 2013, Hoyos Labs should earn more than $100 million in revenue this year, up from zero last year, according to Hoyos.

The company is currently in talks with underwriters who estimate that the company will be valued at $5 billion to $10 billion if it goes public next year.

Article Topics

authentication  |  banking  |  biometrics  |  Hoyos Labs  |  IPO  |  mobile commerce  |  smartphones