Identitypass raises $2.8M for biometric identity verification across Africa

Lagos-based Identitypass has raised $2.8 million in Seed funding, which the company says will help meet its goals of extending its biometric identity verification service across Africa.

The funding round was led by Marc Ventures Capital, and from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, True Capital Fund, Sherwani Capital LP, among other funds. Combined with $360,000 raised in November 2021, the Nigerian startup has raised a total above $3.1 million.

Identitypass, which performs fingerprint and face biometrics matches, ID checks, and identity graphing, says it will help meet the growing demand for know your customer (KYC) across Africa with the growth in internet access and mobile penetration that is creating more online businesses and also security vulnerabilities. The company aims to fulfill this expected demand a quick onboarding process for customers, identity theft protection, and optimizing companies’ compliance rates with anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC regulations.

By playing a role in cracking down on identity theft with biometrics, Identitypass says it will foster business growth in Africa as it enables businesses to develop a more positive reputation.

The company is already serving 200 businesses in Nigeria, the UK, Kenya, the U.S. and India. The company has also joined the Secure Identity Alliance as an associate member to support its OSIA initiative, and recently launched operations in Sierra Leone.

TechCrunch reports that Identitypass also recently graduated from the Y Combinator accelerator program, and is up to 18 sources to check end-user data against.

For its next stage of growth, Identitypass will focus on expanding its existing infrastructure and grow across Africa with new vertical products and services that track how users’ data is being used across the internet. It also plans to launch products that will help clients identify their customers, work with regulatory agencies for a data security framework across Africa, and form alliances and strategic partnerships with countries across Africa.

Article Topics

Africa  |  African startups  |  AML  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  face biometrics  |  fraud prevention  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  Identitypass  |  investment  |  KYC  |  Nigeria