itsme raises nearly €25M to expand digital identity app across Europe

Belgian digital ID app itsme has raised €24.7 million (US$29.3 million) in funding to take further steps towards providing a European digital identity, reports Nieuwsblad.

The funding round was led by the Federal Participation-Investment Company (FPIM), with participation from existing investors. The deal gives FPIM a fifth of itsme shares, and the public funding body intends the investment to be used to expand itsme into a pan-European digital identity provider, according to a Google translation of the article.

Itsme is used in Luxembourg, and the app recently launched in the Netherlands and partnered with iProov for biometric liveness detection with its Genuine Presence Assurance technology.

The itsme app was developed by a consortium formed by Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING Belgium, KBC, Orange, Proximus and Telenet, which are now joined by FPIM. The latter contributed €14.5 million ($17.2 million) to the round, while each of the existing investors other than Orange chipped in €1.7 million ($2 million).

Itsme is up to 3.5 million users, according to the report.

Illuma Labs picks up $2.5M for credit union call center biometrics

Illuma Labs has picked $2.5 million from Curql Fund I to support its efforts to innovate voice biometric authentication for call centers with a specific focus on credit unions.

The company plans to use the funds to develop new anti-fraud features and platform integrations to make it quickly available at low-cost to a broader range of credit unions.

“We immediately recognized the benefits in Illuma Labs’ voice authentication solution to eliminate time-consuming security questions while safeguarding accounts from fraud,” states Nick Evens, CEO and president of Curql Collective.

Several credit unions have deployed Illuma Shield’s text-independent voice biometrics capability, enrolling an AudioPrint for each customer during natural conversation, according to the announcement.

“This technology uses state of the art Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and voice biometrics to address three of the top concerns for credit unions: improving member experience by emulating the warm welcome of a brick-and-mortar visit, creating operational efficiency by shortening call times, and increasing security to prevent account takeovers,” comments Illuma Labs Founder and CEO Milind Borkar. “The infusion of investment from Curql is very timely for expanding this solution to the entire credit union community.”

Article Topics

biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  fraud prevention  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  Illuma Labs  |  investment  |  Itsme  |  voice biometrics