Funding moves could see 4 biometric authentication providers raise over $188M

Plurilock and First Advantage have filed paperwork for funding activities that could bring in a combined $150 million, while idwall has raised $38 million amid a blazing-hot market for investment in biometric authentication. LoginID has also added an unknown amount to its recent Seed Round.

Plurilock files for possible $50M funding round

Plurilock has filed its final base shelf prospectus to set up a $50 million fundraising issuance of common shares, warrants, subscription receipts, debt securities and units. The company is seeking funding to grow adoption of its behavioral biometrics and cybersecurity technologies.

The funds are expected to fund Plurilock as it remains in the growth and development stage, with negative cash flows from its operating activities expected while it remains in the stage. The proceeds from offerings under the Shelf Prospectus can be used for general corporate purposes, capital projects, internal expansion, or acquisitions unless specified otherwise in the prospectus supplement for a particular offering.

Regulatory filings show Plurilock began operating two business divisions, a Technology Division and a Solutions Division, as of April 1, 2021, the latter of which was created through the acquisition of Aurora.

Plurilock also recently signed up three new customers for its behavioral biometrics.

First Advantage prepares for potential $100M IPO

Background check company First Advantage has filed a registration statement Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of common shares. The company’s services include background checks through fingerprint biometrics.

The company intends to launch an offering of its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “FA,” though the number of shares and price range have yet to be determined. The Form S-1 specifies that the common stock would be registered at $0.01 per share, and the maximum aggregate offering price is listed at $100 million.

First Advantage says it performed 75 million employee screenings in 2020 for 30,000 customers, including five of the top ten private sector employers in the U.S. and 55 percent of the Fortune 100. The company reports it earned $509 million in revenue during 2020, for an operational loss of $8 million and a net loss of $63.6 million.

Lead and additional bookrunners and co-managers have been retained for the proposed IPO, though the registration statement of the Form S-1 filing has not yet become effective.

Idwall raises $38M to expand team, possibly Latin American reach

Brazilian identity verification and background check company idwall, which offers onboarding with selfie biometrics, has raised $38 million in Series C funding, TechCrunch reports.

The funding round was led by Endurance, with participation from GGV Capital, monashees, Canary, Qualcomm Ventures, ONEVC, Peninsula and Norte. The company has raised nearly $50 million in total.

Idwall claims to have grown at a 144 percent CAGR from 2017 to 2020, with 300 clients including two of Brazil’s three biggest banks. Fintechs also make up a substantial portion of its customer base.

In addition to biometric facial authentication, idwall uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate background checks, risk analysis ID validation and optical character recognition (OCR). The software runs checks against public and private databases, and helps customers meet compliance requirements, returning results in less than three minutes, according to the report.

“The more digitized companies become, the more client expectations grow — and market competition grows stronger,” idwall Co-founder and CEO Lincoln Ando said. “Our mission is to always stay ahead of innovation in our market, and that’s why we invest so much in growth and in building the best possible team to develop our products.”

The company plans to spend some of its cash recruiting developers, as well as building out its existing products and launching new ones. The company expects to grow by 100 to a team of 300 over the next few months.

He also says that many of the problems related to identity validation and fraud faced by Brazilian companies are common elsewhere in Latin America as well.

“idwall is leading the discussions and innovations in Brazil regarding digital onboarding and identity validation,” says GGV Capital Managing Partner Hans Tung. “And their B2C digital identity app MeuID could be the first true super-app in Latin America.”

Idwall raised $10 million to address the Latin American market for biometric onboarding in 2019.

LoginID raises further funds from Visa

LoginID has received a follow-on investment from Visa following a $6 million Seed Round announced in March for its FIDO-certified biometric authentication.

The amount of the subsequent investment was not disclosed.

“Visa recognizes its role in promoting a secure payment experience for consumers and a frictionless transaction processing for merchants,” comments LoginID CEO Simon Law. “Together, we are helping companies integrate and scale strong authentication at low cost, while ensuring compliance with PSD2 and GDPR regulations.”

“Visa has earned the trust of consumers, financial institutions and merchants over the past sixty years to become the world leader in digital payments by integrating payment innovation with security,” says Melissa McSherry, senior vice president, Global Data, Security and Identity Products at Visa. “Biometric technologies offer greater convenience and stronger security, and are the gold standard for online authentication. Visa’s investment and continued partnership with LoginID will help deliver innovative solutions that will improve convenience and payment security.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  First Advantage  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  idwall  |  investment  |  LoginID  |  Plurilock  |  Visa