Biometric IDV startup raises $1M, opens US operations and launches anti-fraud suite

Toronto-founded biometric identity verification startup deepidv has closed a $1 million seed funding round, expanded its operations to San Francisco and launched a suite of what it calls advanced fraud detection tools.

The funds will be invested in deepidv’s ongoing product development, expanding its go-to-market operations across the U.S. and adding to its engineering and sales teams in Toronto, San Francisco and Dallas, according to a company announcement.

The company provides both online and in-person identity verification, real-time document authentication, biometric matching with active liveness detection, facial age estimation, address and background checks, deepfake detection and a set of AML tools such as PEP and sanctions list screening. deepidv also offers continuous monitoring and code-free verification workflow orchestration. Real-time transaction risk scoring delivers responses in less than 150 milliseconds, the company says.

For in-person identity verification, deepidv offers a tablet-like biometric device. The deepcam is designed for use in retail locations, gyms, cannabis dispensaries, casinos and bank branches, providing biometric authentication, age verification and face search functions.

Founder and CEO Shawn-Marc Melo says the funding round gives deepidv the runway to serve customers across North America. The announcement specifically refers to businesses in financial services, proptech, hospitality and online gaming.

“Our fraud suite is purpose-built to counter these threats with AI that’s trained specifically to detect AI-generated content” says deepidv CTO Omar Tahir. “We’re not retrofitting old technology — we’re building from the ground up for a post-deepfake world.”

The founding team behind deepidv has existed startups twice previously, according to the announcement. The company’s board of directors consists of Melo, Tahir and Croatian-Canadian businessman Robert Herjavec, who is best known for his role on television’s Shark Tank.

“We believe every person will eventually have a personal AI agent, and every AI agent will need a verified identity,” Melo adds. “deepidv is building the trust infrastructure for that future. This seed round is step one.”

The international biometric identity verification market is expected to reach $18.3 billion by 2027, according to the 2025 Digital Identity Verification Market Report and Buyers Guide from Biometric Update and Goode Intelligence.

Article Topics

biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  deepidv  |  digital identity  |  document verification  |  funding  |  identity verification