V-Key gets PE firm backing to expand mobile digital identity security footprint

Singapore-headquartered digital identity and Mobile Application Protection and Security (MAPS) provider V-Key has a new majority investor, with Tower Capital Asia announcing a strategic investment. The amount invested was not disclosed.

TCA emphasizes V-Key’s capabilities in secure, seamless digital experiences for financial services and the digital economy more generally in the announcement. V-Key is focused on the Asia-Pacific market, and provides an end-to-end platform used by banks, fintechs and enterprises for secure user onboarding, authentication for logical access control, and protection of mobile applications and transactions.

“Secure digital identity has become foundational to how financial institutions and digital platforms serve customers,” says Danny Koh, founder and CEO of Tower Capital Asia in the joint announcement. “V‑Key has built a robust platform that enables organisations to manage identity, authentication, and mobile app security at scale, with a strong track record in highly regulated environments. We are excited to partner with the team to accelerate product innovation and support the company’s growth.”

With TCA’s help, V-Key plans to accelerate its product innovation, strengthen the company’s regional presence and deepen its relationships with financial institutions and digital platforms offering secure, mobile-first services.

“Together we will invest further in strengthening our unified digital identity and mobile application security capabilities – so clients can deploy confidently with speed and scale as their needs evolve,” says V-Key Co-founder and CEO Joseph Gan.

Gan invented the V-OS virtual secure element currently deployed to more than 500 million mobile devices around the world. V-OS FIDO2 Server was certified by the Fido Alliance in December.

The company was also granted a patent by the USPTO for its “Secure Module and Method for App-to-App Mutual Trust Through App-Based Identity” in January. The patent describes the use of an app-based digital identity as a secure method for establishing mutual trust between applications without relying on external credentials or device-level assumptions, according to V-Key’s announcement.

“We see a clear opportunity to support the team as they expand across financial services and adjacent digital sectors,” TCA SVP Seth Lim comments.

V-Key integrated ZeroBiometrics software for privacy-preserving biometric authentication at the beginning of 2024.

Article Topics

digital identity  |  financial services  |  funding  |  investment  |  patents  |  research and development  |  V-Key