1Kosmos brings biometric and blockchain authentication out of stealth with $15M funding round

1Kosmos has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round and is exiting stealth mode to bring its security platform based on biometrics and private blockchain to market for what it says is the highest level of identity and authentication assurance. The funding will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and product roadmap, according to the announcement.

The funding round was led by ForgePoint Capital, which bill itself as the premier VC partner for early-stage cybersecurity companies.

1Kosmos offers BlockID Verify, BlockID Workforce and BlockID Customer to provide enterprises and individuals with passwordless authentication and enhanced security. BlockID was launched to the Auth0 Marketplace in January to make the company’s decentralized identity (DID) technology available to workforces.

The company says BlockID integrates with any application, website or operating system without any additional software.

In addition to the funding, 1Kosmos has also established an advisory board, which features former U.S. NSA Director and Booz Allen Vice Chairman Mike McConnell, former Airforce CIO Art Money, former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, and ForgePoint Capital Founding Partner Alberto Yépez.

“Research has shown that 81 percent of data breaches are caused by identity and credential compromises,” says Hemen Vimadalal, CEO of 1Kosmos. “With the help of our expert advisory board and investment from ForgePoint, we are able to make this an issue of the past for all – saving companies and individuals the time, money and hassle associated with outdated security. We are here to solve a 60-year-old digital identity and credential problem in less than 60 minutes.”

The executive team of 1Kosmos has experience including senior roles at Sun, Oracle and Lehman Brothers, and the company’s partners and clients so far include Verizon, Hitachi and RSA Security.

Article Topics

1Kosmos BlockID  |  authentication  |  biometrics  |  blockchain  |  credentials  |  cybersecurity  |  digital identity  |  funding  |  identity management  |  investment