Passbase raises €3.3M in Seed funding to challenge biometric IAM market with privacy protection

Digital identity startup Passbase has raised €3.3 million (US$3.6 million) in a Seed funding round to fuel the development of its full-stack biometric identity solution, EU-Startups reports.

The Berlin-based company, which leverages public key cryptography, biometric authentication, and machine intelligence, just announced a €530,000 pre-seed investment round in March. The new round was led by Cowboy Ventures and Eniac Ventures, with participation from Seedcamp and others.

Passbase offers identity verification software based on a biometric video selfie and identity document scan, but with the twist of a patent-pending zero-knowledge sharing architecture. The company says the technology is easily integrated in just a few minutes from its self-service developer platform.

“Thousands of companies have aggregated sensitive user data, which they have not been able to secure,” said Mathias Klenk, Passbase co-founder. “Every business is vulnerable – from ambitious small ventures to tech giants like Google and Facebook. This is why the only real solution is a more distributed security architecture that engages an end-user’s consent. That is why we are building Passbase. For businesses and their consumers together.”

The company plans to use the funds to enhance its existing product, launch a biometric reauthentication tool, and expand its Berlin and New York teams as it challenges the identity and access management (IAM) market.

“Our aim is to make this technology accessible and privacy-conscious,” said Passbase co-founder Dave McGibbon. “So that the next generation of innovators can build amazing businesses without compromising individual privacy or security. The new economy is built on the idea that you can trust people you’ve only met online. Identity-based security is critical to making this happen.”

The digital identity and document verification market is forecast by Goode Intelligence to be worth $15 billion a year by 2024.

Article Topics

access management  |  biometrics  |  cryptography  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  funding  |  identity access management (IAM)  |  identity management  |  identity verification  |  investment  |  Passbase