MagicCube secures $10m to expand into biometrics and IDV 

Californian company MagicCube has raised $10 million in new funding to accelerate its push beyond tap-to-phone payments and into biometrics, identity verification and AI-driven device security.

The round brings strategic backing from Verifone, one of the world’s largest payment solution providers, alongside continued backing from Bold Capital, Mosaik Partners and ID Tech. A “major” global investor based in EMEA is expected to be announced at the second closing, according to the release

“With this round and with Verifone joining as both an investor and partner, we are moving beyond payments into securing the next era of digital identity, IoT, and AI-driven computing,” says MagicCube’s co-founder and CEO Sam Shawki.

“Our mission is to make trusted environments available anywhere — from phones to cars to connected systems at the edge,” Shawki adds, revealing some of their strategy.

Founded in 2014 and based in Cupertino, MagicCube has built its reputation on Software Defined Trust (SDT), a technology that is supposed to deliver hardware-grade protection entirely through software.

Its software Trusted Execution Environment (sTEE) enables smartphones, tablets and IoT devices to perform secure computations and safeguard sensitive data without relying on specialized chips.

As device security is complemented with biometrics and identity verification, with popular methods like Face ID on Apple iPhones and fingerprint biometrics on Android phones, the development of new and additional security methods means innovation continues.

Innovation that is required as mobile computing devices such as smartphones are ubiquitous interfaces for retail payments, ecommerce and banking. This growth is also reflected in bad actors looking to break in and the sale of illegally stolen data on the black market.

“Our mission is to give our partners, their merchants, and their ISVs [independent software vendor] peace of mind, knowing they are using the most advanced technology to secure the digital experiences they deliver to their end user — pure software with hardware-grade security and global scalability,” comments Nancy Zayed, CTO and co-founder of MagicCube.

“This is the fastest path to delivering trusted digital services — not just for payment acceptance, but also for identity, biometrics, and AI-driven edge security at global scale.”

MagicCube’s technology is already deployed by major financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Global Payments, Fiserv and Dojo by Paymentsense. Its flagship product — i-Accept — turns everyday mobile devices into compliant contactless payment terminals, eliminating the need for costly hardware upgrades.

For Verifone, the partnership signals a deeper move into identity-verified commerce. Verifone’s Prasanna Narayan, EVP and Head of Product, said: “Our investment in MagicCube expands our ability to serve clients seeking secure, identity-verified commerce across new and emerging form factors.”

“By integrating MagicCube’s technology, Verifone can bring trusted innovation to every step of the digital commerce experience.”

MagicCube plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate research and development in software-based trust technologies, strengthen its AI security portfolio, and deepen integrations across global payment and identity ecosystems.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  device security  |  digital identity  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  MagicCube  |  trusted execution environment  |  Verifone