Yoti says £20M in debt funding will carry it to profitability

Yoti has raised 20 million pounds (US$25.4 million) in debt funding, which it says will see it through to profitability for its face biometrics, liveness detection, age assurance and digital identity technologies.

The new funding takes the form of £12.5 million ($15.9 million) in financing from HSBC and a further £7.5 million ($9.5 million) in convertible debt funding from existing shareholders, the company says in an announcement.

Yoti’s revenues have surged from £101,168 in the year ending March, 2020 to £6,246,230 in the year ending March, 2023, A 6.074 percent change. They have continued to grow since, with a 150 percent increase from £466,143 in October of 2022 to £1,167,735 this past October.

The company carries out 6.5 million age and digital identity checks each month, as the drumbeat of partnership and customer win announcements for its biometrics and age estimation technology rolls on.

“We’re growing quickly and this £20 million funding should comfortably see us through to profitability,” Yoti CEO Robin Tombs says.

Chair John Browett expressed satisfaction with the company having secured the last funding round before it becomes profitable. Total funding for Yoti is just over £166 million. The majority of that has come from founders and angel investors, according to the announcement.

The trio of UK digital ID apps involving Yoti (Yoti ID, Post Office EasyID and Lloyds Bank Smart ID) have been downloaded 4 million times, and 13 million Yoti apps have been installed around the world. Yoti notes it did not invest in consumer marketing in the UK this year.

Yoti also integrated ROC.ai’s facial recognition earlier this month, and the company just released the latest edition of its white paper on Facial Age Estimation.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  funding  |  investment  |  Yoti