Elenium plans to bring biometric platform to more markets with new chair and $7M investment

Elenium Automation has raised AU$10 million (US$7.1 million) in growth capital to drive the manufacture and rollout of its Faceway biometrics platform.

The company has also appointed Paula Dwyer, Allianz chair and ANZ Board member, as chairman.

The funding round was led by new investor Thorney Investment Group, with participation from existing investors NRMA and Acorn Capital.

Elenium heavily invested in research and development and personnel to invent new touchless biometric technologies for use wherever people congregate, including not only airports and transport hubs but also entertainment, health, and aged care settings, the company says. Now it seeks to bring its Faceway platform for access control and other processes based on a single token derived from selfie biometrics to other large-scale environments, including convention centers, for secure touchless access without using a phone or scanning a QR code.

New chair for a new phase

Dwyer took the position with Elenium, her only board position with a startup, because of confidence in Elenium Co-founder and CEO Aaron Hornlimann’s vision and the broad applications for its intellectual property, according to the announcement.

“I am very excited to support Elenium as it embarks on a mass market strategy – they’re taking what they have built at scale for aviation through the VYGR products and applying it across industries,” comments Dwyer. “It’s a pivotal time for the company as the world reopens and the applications for its important technologies increase. I come from a background in highly regulated industries and one of my key objectives as Chairman will be to ensure the safe delivery of Elenium’s products – that data privacy, data management, and the ethical use of biometrics are key differentiators in our solutions.”

“Using the technology we developed originally for airports, we can help make our everyday life experiences seamless,” says Hornlimann. “This is a very important time in Elenium’s evolution, and I look forward to having strong, experienced leadership from the Board and investors through this next growth phase.”

Article Topics

appointments  |  biometrics  |  Board of Directors  |  contactless biometrics  |  Elenium  |  face biometrics  |  funding  |  research and development  |  startup