Acuant acquires Hello Soda to integrate biometrics with dark web checks

Acuant has acquired UK-based identity verification and know your customer (KYC) provider Hello Soda to bring together powerful biometric technologies and data science capabilities to foster trust in digital identities. During the past quarter Acuant also had its best earnings quarter ever, with revenue up 30 percent year-over-year and annual run rate (ARR) up by more than 60 percent.

Hello Soda focuses on serving customers in the European and Asian markets, particularly in fintech and gaming. The company’s success has been driven by its advanced analytics, according to the announcement, with proprietary analytics, matching algorithms and data science modelling for configurable and composite scoring for KYC and anti money-laundering (AML) checks, enhanced due diligence, and continuous monitoring.

Acuant picks up Hello Soda’s dark web scanning solution, which searches over 600 million records for the information of the person performing a transaction to provide an extra layer of security.

“Our goal has always been to power trust for all, a vision we share with Hello Soda whom we are excited to welcome to the Acuant family,” comments Acuant President and CEO Yossi Zekri. “This is truly the most exhilarating time in our company’s history, coinciding with the disruption of traditional financial markets, the rapid digitalization of the world and the need for business and governments to help safeguard identity more than ever before. Adding Hello Soda to our Trusted Identity Platform will reach more people today and position us even stronger for the future of digital identity.”

“We could not be happier to join Acuant, bringing our talent, technology, network and expertise to strengthen all we have accomplished and to take our mutual vision further as a team,” states James Blake, founder and CEO of Hello Soda. “Our combined technology will serve us well in our joint mission to democratize trust and provide solutions to reach every sector of the global population, allowing every individual to conduct trusted transactions when and where they wish.”

Record revenue growth in Q1

Acuant’s revenue from compliance technologies, including its integration of IdentityMind AML solutions with its biometric Trusted Identity Platform, surged by 170 percent during Q1 2021.

Highlights for the company during the quarter included the granting of two patents related to digital identity verification, and several new partnerships.

During 2021, Acuant expects to receive FedRAMP certification.

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  Acuant  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  financial results  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  onboarding