Thirdfort raises £1M to scale selfie biometric and ID document check platform for law firms

Legal tech startup Thirdfort has raised £1 million (US$1.3 million) in a recent seed-plus funding round, bringing total funds raised for its selfie biometric and ID document check platform to £2.7 million (US$3.6 million), the company announced.

Regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), Thirdfort mixes biometric facial recognition with document scanning and Open Banking to streamline identity and source of funds checks carried out by lawyers. The system optimizes client onboarding and delivers enhanced security for remote operations. Thirdfort notes on its web site blog post that it uses Onfido facial biometrics for onboarding.

The funding will be used to expand business development following a growing demand from law firms for secure technology post-COVID-19. Participating investors include James Meekings and Andy Mullinger, co-founders of Funding Circle, and David Rutter, founder of R3, the law firm Mishcon de Reya and a range of other private investors.

“The need for the legal market to rapidly adapt in light of the Covid-19 pandemic has been a major catalyst for change, and we believe there is an enormous opportunity to help lawyers cut out fraud risk while improving the client experience during life’s big moments, through a slick and simple mobile app,” said Olly Thornton-Berry, co-founder and Managing Director, in a prepared statement.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in demand from our law firm clients and, despite a challenging market backdrop, we’ve secured a further £1 million (US$1.3 million) investment which will allow us to press the pedal harder on our growth plans.”

Thornton-Berry further adds “Our technology transforms the highly inefficient, manual methods used by many firms, improving identity verification and money laundering compliance, and reducing the risk of cybercrime– three areas in which lawyers face increasing anxiety and uncertainty from heavy regulatory burdens, technology overload and rampant fraud.”

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, law firms had to work remotely and find a solution to replace in-person ID checks. During March and April, Thirdfort saw a five-fold increase, expanded to 25 team members and is projecting a 60 percent team growth over the next year.

Thirdfort is a 2018 graduate of Mishcon de Reya’s MDR LAB accelerator program and has an office in Victoria, London. The company has also attracted investment from Alex Chesterman (Zoopla founder) and Chris Marks (ex-CEO of Natwest Markets).

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  funding  |  identity document  |  identity verification  |  Onfido  |  open banking  |  selfie biometrics  |  Thirdfort