Keyless adds $2M in funding to fuel North American expansion

Keyless has raised $2 million in a selective strategic funding round to support its plans for continued growth in 2025, in particular in the North American market.

The funding round was led by previous Keyless investors Rialto Ventures and Experian Ventures, and brings the company to a total of $10 million raised in the last 18 months. Keyless reported a $6 million funding round in late-2023, and then raised an additional $2 million in a private funding round, Global Head of Marketing Alex Jones told Biometric Update in an email.

The company plans to use the funds to strengthen its expansion in North America, according to a company announcement, following 700 percent year-over-year growth in 2024. That growth included new customers in the UK, EU, and North and South America. Keyless also indicated several more bank partnerships early in 2025 when discussing its expectations for the new year.

The financial services biometrics markets are somewhat different between the Keyless’ home base in the UK and its expansion target in the U.S., Jones says.

“The U.S. is slightly behind the UK with regards to adopting biometrics, largely due to a less regulatory-driven approach (no PSD2/SCA) and a lower focus on MFA. U.S. banks and credit card providers prioritize transaction volume and often manage fraud through chargebacks, resulting in less proactive fraud prevention. In contrast, the UK is more aligned with Europe, where banks are advanced in combating fraud, especially with biometrics, and operate within a stricter regulatory framework. The differing banking models also contribute to this disparity, with U.S. institutions more focused on transacting and reimbursing frauds if they occur, while UK banks emphasize prevention.”

Keyless Co-founder and CEO Andrea Carmignani says in the announcement that the past year was transformational for Keyless, as well as the broader industry.

“The biometric identity market for financial services is expected to grow at a remarkable CAGR of 41 percent over the next three years, reaching $40 billion globally,” says Carmignani. “At Keyless, we have already seen a significant shift in the adoption of privacy-preserving biometrics that can reduce fraud whilst improving the user experience at the same time. We’re looking forward to what 2025 will bring.”

Investment plans for Keyless also include introducing new innovations, specifically mentioning injection attack detection to protect against deepfakes.

The primary security priority for 2025, however, Jones says, is continuous identity assurance.

“This involves seamlessly connecting IDV for account opening with ongoing authentication,” he explains. “By reusing the selfie captured during IDV, organizations can continuously verify the genuine identity of users without relying on weak proxies like passwords, PINs, or SMS OTPs. Keyless facilitates this approach, providing flexibility to integrate with multiple IDV vendors—essential in navigating the highly fragmented regulatory landscape with varying jurisdictions and document requirements. This creates a unified authentication framework that assures genuine identity across all channels.”

Keyless hired a pair of former Mastercard SVPs, Sarah Clark and Charles Walton, as advisors towards the end of 2024, and also appointed North American sales and technical service directors. It also submitted a face biometrics algorithm to the NIST FRTE 1:1 evaluation for the first time in November.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  Keyless  |  research and development