Onfido, IDnow ride selfie biometrics to record growth in Q4 2021

Digital identity authentication and selfie biometric providers Onfido and IDnow unveiled summaries of their 2021 business results that showed record growth and increasing customer bases. Meanwhile, digital identity company Yoti will return to the fundraising arena after relying on its own funds for eight years.

Onfido highlights 2021 milestones with business growth and customers

Onfido announced it exceeded $100 million in year-over-year revenue and added Volkswagen Financial Services, DBS Bank, and Orange as customers for its identity verification and facial authentication biometric services in a summary of its growth last year.

The company says that it raised U.S. growth by 134 percent year-over-year, and grew its workforce to 600 employees to meet the increasing demand for verification and authentication; research and development; customer service; and developing its fraud detection capabilities. It also notes that the number of its digital identity checks surpassed 100 million in September 2021, and five months later, increased by 50 percent to 150 million. Onfido quotes a report from Goode Intelligence that forecasts the number of digital identity checks will skyrocket to 3.8 billion by 2026 from 1.1 billion in 2021, and generate $17.2 billion in revenue for vendors and service providers.

“Our strong year reflects the continued shift towards the critical adoption of digital environments where businesses are adapting to meet their users online,” says Mike Tuchen, CEO of Onfido. “With $56 billion lost to identity theft in 2020 alone, a fast, simple and secure online journey is imperative when it comes to building customer trust, which is why we are continuing to invest in our workforce, technology, research and development.”

Onfido highlighted its achievements in 2021, like the launch of facial biometrics onboarding service Face Authenticate, powered by FaceTec, and the acquisition of acoustic-based liveness firm Eyn. The company also added Volkswagen Financial Services, DBS Bank, Lemonway, and BUX; gaming providers Soft2Bet and Games247; telecommunications company Orange; and healthcare unicorn Doctolib as new customers and expanded partners.

German selfie biometric and digital identity provider IDnow says it doubled the number of transactions performed with its identity proofing platform, propelled by new sales, increasing use among clientele, and two major acquisitions it made in 2021.

Last June, IDnow merged with Ariadnext in a $59 million deal to form a broad European biometric digital identity platform. That came after an acquisition of Trust Management AG in March 2021 to consolidate its presence in Germany.

“Looking forward to the rest of the year, I am very excited about our position in the market. With our holistic identity proofing platform, strengthened team and additional regional locations, we’re in a unique position to offer enterprises exactly what they need from a single source,” says Andreas Bodczek, CEO of IDnow. “I am looking forward to 2022 – a year in which we will continue to bring our three combined companies closer together and strive for increased market leadership as a unified force.”

Yoti takes off bootstraps and seeks millions in funding

Face biometrics and digital ID provider Yoti will emerge out of bootstrapping and will seek tens of millions in venture capital funding after being sustained by its millionaire founders for eight years, Sifted reports.

Yoti’s CEO Robin Tombs told Sifted that the moment is opportune for outside funding because the digital identity market is “red hot,” unlike in 2014, when venture capital firms were unsure about the industry. Tombs says digital ID will be crucial for applications in the metaverse, Web3, and gaming, and wants Yoti to get a head start. “This is a business whose time has come. A lot of the problems around Web3 come down to identity and interoperability, which we can help with,” says Tombs.

The company was kept afloat to the tune of £110 million (approximately US$149 million) as co-founders Tombs and Noel Hayden sold online gambling site Gamesys for £2 billion ($2.7 billion), netting them an estimated £500 million ($678 million) total.

Sifted reports that Yoti is seeking to raise between £8 million ($10.8 million) and £10 million ($13.6 million) from a number of wealthy tech entrepreneurs. Later in the year, it plans to raise around £40 million ($54.2 million) to £60 million ($81.3 million) in Series B funding from venture capital investors, the report adds.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  face biometrics  |  financial results  |  fraud prevention  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  IDnow  |  investment  |  Onfido  |  selfie biometrics  |  Yoti