Keyless goes independent, raises $6M, plans behavioral biometrics development

Keyless is spinning out from Sift, two years after being acquired by the fraud management provider, and has also raised $6 million in venture capital funding.

The separation from Sift is described as a strategic decision, based on the recognition that the two companies’ technologies are best suited to serve different markets, according to the announcement. Keyless’ passwordless biometric multi-factor authentication was integrated into Sift’s Connect App Gallery last year. Keyless’ digital identity orchestration was also integrated with PingOne DaVinci in September.

The funding round was led by Rialto Ventures, and Keyless says it reflects increased demand for its biometric authentication in the banking and financial services. Keyless CEO Andrea Carmignani says the company is better positioned to serve those markets as an independent company. Crunchbase refers to the company’s funding round in April of 2021 as a seed round, and also reports a venture round when Keyless was acquired by Sift. Keyless says it is now up to $26 million in total funding.

Fabian Eberle, Keyless co-founder and COO, tells Biometric Update in an email that the funding will be used for “Expansion beyond Europe, into new markets such as North America/U.S. and Asia, and development of additional capabilities, such as the upcoming release of a browser-based solution and behavioral biometrics, that will strengthen our product offering in the financial services market.”

Those capabilities would compliment Keyless’ core technology, a form of hashed selfie biometrics Keyless calls “Zero Knowledge Biometrics,” and its platform for unifying the end-to-end identity lifecycle. The company says its privacy-preserving cryptographic capabilities deliver superior security by avoiding the storage of biometric data anywhere, while addressing the challenge of device-bound biometrics which authenticate the device rather than the user.

“The emphasis is shifting from demonstrating ownership of devices or email accounts to verifying the true identity of the individual,” says Carmignani. “Biometrics offer a compelling solution but existing solutions like FaceID have fundamental limitations, which Keyless is uniquely positioned to address.”

Article Topics

behavioral biometrics  |  biometrics  |  funding  |  Keyless  |  multifactor authentication  |  passwordless authentication  |  zero knowledge