VerifyMe Nigeria plans regional expansion as biometrics startup IdentityPass raises $360K

VerifyMe Nigeria says it grew by ten times from 2020 to 2021, and has been growing by at least 40 percent month-to-month in revenue during 2021, according to Vanguard.

The company was supporting 1,500 daily transactions in the fourth quarter of 2020, and is now up to 25,000, as Nigerians open bank accounts, access life and car insurance, and get verified for loans and services.

VerifyMe Co-founder and CEO Esigie Aguele attributes the company’s growth trajectory to its first-mover advantage. He projects over $3 million in revenue by the end of 2022, as it continues to grow from a customer base of over 200 service providers in the country.

The company plans to expand its product offerings and partnerships in Nigeria, but also to expand regionally

IdentityPass raises $360K

Nigerian digital compliance and security startup IdentityPass has raised $360,000 in pre-seed funding to expand its team, fuel research and development, and acquire customers for its fingerprint and face biometrics, ID checker and identity graph services.

The company is now providing digital identity verification technology for 170 customers.

“In the last 3 quarters since we launched, we have verified millions of users and businesses and this growth is largely due to our market approach strategies,” IdentityPass Co-founder and CEO Lanre Ogungbe told TechCabal. “The coming quarters’ goal is to launch new products that don’t only keep businesses secured but also secure every internet user in the region.”

Co-founder Niyi Adegboye says IdentityPass is partnering with governments and other key stakeholders to build a trust infrastructure for African businesses, freeing them from identity theft risk and compliance bottlenecks.

Refinitiv survey shows room to grow

The regional environment seems ripe for investment in digital identity technologies.

A lack of digital identity solutions to meet know your customer (KYC) protocols in Sub-Saharan Africa is hindering efforts to reduce financial crime in the region, according to a survey of compliance professionals and business leaders from 47 countries by Refinitiv.

The second financial crime report from the London Stock Exchange Group subsidiary shows that 23 percent of organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa have been victims of bribery or corruption in the past five years, and low public awareness of third-party exposure risks. Just over a quarter (26 percent) say they have invested in digital identity technology, but only 18 percent have an active digital identity program in place.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital identity  |  financial results  |  fraud prevention  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  Identitypass  |  KYC  |  Nigeria  |  Refinitiv  |  VerifyMe Nigeria