DoD biometrics contract boosts Griaule onto fastest growing list

Griaule has placed 346th in the FT-Statista ranking of the fastest growing companies in the Americas for 2021, fueled in part by a $75 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to provide technology for matching latent fingerprint biometrics in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Financial Times reports.

After 20 years in operation, Brazil-based Griaule recently expanded its operations to Afghanistan as the culmination of its attempt to form a customer relationship with the DoD for its fingerprint biometrics, which it did with a contract signed in 2018.

Griaule’s technology is used to try to match latent prints recovered from bomb fragments and crime scenes to DoD databases in both Afghanistan and Iraq under the contract. Its face biometrics are also used in dedicated scanners and for authentication to mobile apps.

Griaule booked revenues of $4.5 million in 2019, capping several years of growth at a 35 percent compound annual growth rate. Griaule’s revenues then more than doubled to $10.3 million last year, and may be set to continue their dramatic climb, with the company signing up the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a customer, along with several banks within and outside of Brazil. A de-duplication project for Brazil’s electoral court discovered one individual with 55 IDs.

Like many companies offering biometrics for fraud prevention, the company observed greater demand for staff and customer authentication during the pandemic, according to the report.

The Times notes that Brazil passed its General Law for the Protection of Personal Data (LGPD) in 2020, but the company says it works with customers ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.

Griaule plans this year to expand its global workforce to more than 100, up from 40 two years ago, and open a new office in Mexico City.

Article Topics

biometric software  |  biometrics  |  deduplication  |  Department of Defense  |  facial recognition  |  fingerprint recognition  |  Griaule Biometrics  |  military