Veriff Series B funding round nets $69M to expand biometric video IDV in American market

Veriff has raised $69 million in a Series B funding round to meet what the company says is accelerating demand for its biometric video identity verification, particularly in the U.S. market.

The funding round was led by IVP and Accel, each of which will place a member on Veriff’s board of directors.

By comparing more than 1,000 data points, Veriff seeks to provide transparent responses increasing security and trust for businesses online, across different sectors and use cases. It’s artificial intelligence decision engine analyzes more than 9,000 different government-issued IDs from more than 190 countries in 36 different languages with machine learning.

The company says its video-first, AI-powered identity verification technology combines with sophisticated data cross-checks can detect signs of identity fraud not visible from basic data extraction, still images or biometrics. Veriff’s goal is to build a stronger source for online identity than government-issued IDs alone provide.

As the online identity verification market and related fraud spiked in 2020, Veriff increased its annual recurring revenue by six times, and its technology was used by a number of Fortune 500 companies to identify and prevent identity fraud.

“In a world that is becoming increasingly remote and digital-first, every company needs a solution like Veriff to facilitate internet trust,” says Jules Maltz, general partner at IVP. “Veriff is setting the standard for the IDV market and we’re proud to support Kaarel Kotkas and team as they build a large, mission-driven company.”

“At Veriff, we are building trust and transparency in the online world, and our round marks the highest Series B amount raised to date in the IDV market, putting us one step closer to eliminating widespread identity fraud while helping businesses grow and go digital,” comments Kaarel Kotkas, founder and CEO of Veriff. “Veriff is considered a ‘secret weapon’ to fight against fraud and solve the hassle of online identity verification. Now backed by top investors in the world, we look forward to partner up with more companies to solve their identity verification challenges and work towards bringing more trust online.”

Veriff has now raised $92.8 million in total, and recently launched a biometric reverification service for customers matching selfies with previously enrolled reference images.

Thirdfort raises £1.5M from existing investors for growth round

Thirdfort has secured £1.5 million (roughly US$2.1) to ramp up its product development and bring its combination of face biometrics, open banking and document scanning technologies to more customers in the legal and property markets as a know your customer (KYC) and anti money-laundering (AML) specialist.

The growth funding round consisted entirely of existing Thirdfort investors, with serial digital entrepreneur Alex Chesterman OBE making his third investment. The company has now raised £4.2 million ($5.8 million) in total.

The Digital ID Standard recently released by HM Land Registry is among expected drivers of digital ID adoption for conveyancing in the UK.

Thirdfort ID document checks and selfie biometrics are used in the onboarding of more than 30,000 new clients per month, ten times as many as pre-pandemic, for more than 500 customer organizations among law firms and property businesses, according to the announcement. From January of 2020 to February, 2021, Thirdfort grew its headcount from 12 to 54, and the company forecasts it will increase by an additional 65 percent increase this year, while sustaining profitability.

“We’re using cutting edge technology to help lawyers and property professionals minimise fraud risk, whilst improving the client experience during life’s big moments,” states Thirdfort Co-founder and Managing Director Olly Thornton-Berry. “These tools have the backing of regulators, Government bodies and a growing number of firms, and our objective is for Thirdfort to become the new standard in legal security, as well as expanding into adjacent markets such as the estate agent and mortgage space. That means building better products and doing so faster than ever, and we’re delighted that some of the UK’s leading angel investors support this strategy.”

Article Topics

AI  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  fraud prevention  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  open banking  |  remote authentication  |  Thirdfort  |  Veriff