Unico expands global digital identity footprint with new Silicon Valley HQ

Unico has opened a new global headquarters in Silicon Valley as it takes a leap into the U.S. and other international markets.

The Menlo Park office follows a series of acquisitions in Mexico, the UAE and the U.S., giving the Brazilian digital ID firm broad international reach.

“We have spent two years methodically building the technology and expertise required to lead on the global stage,” said Unico Founder and CEO Diego Martins. “In an era where AI‑driven fraud is escalating, the market is in urgent need of the enterprise‑grade certainty that Unico provides.”

“Moving our HQ to Silicon Valley is a commitment to bringing that trust to the global stage.”

The company, which has built one of Latin America’s largest digital identity networks, says the move comes as AI‑driven fraud accelerates worldwide. Unico’s platform combines face biometrics and machine‑learning models designed to deliver near‑certain identity validation, a capability it argues is increasingly necessary as synthetic identities and automated attacks rise.

The Silicon Valley launch is part of a two‑year expansion strategy that has included the acquisitions of Trully in Mexico, Oz Forensics in the UAE and OwnID in the U.S. These deals added liveness detection, anti‑spoofing, passkey authentication and other technologies to Unico’s portfolio.

To support its global push, Unico has recruited senior leaders from Meta, Apple and Google. The new executive team includes Davi Reis, a former Google specialist in deepfakes, who recently delivered a presentation on the subject at SXSW; Pablo Surace, previously at Meta and P&G; longtime Apple design veteran Paul Ray (PJ) Judia Jr.; Frederico Montezuma, a product director from digital product commercialization platform Hotmart; and finance leader Bruno Branco, formerly of EBANX and EY.

Unico says it is targeting a digital identity market projected to reach more than $50 billion by 2034. Backed by investors including SoftBank, General Atlantic and Goldman Sachs, the company plans to expand its presence in Latin America, where it is consolidating operations, and in the Middle East and Africa, where it is actively growing.

The company describes its goal as establishing a global “trust layer” for digital interactions between people, businesses and governments.

Article Topics

appointments  |  biometric liveness detection  |  digital identity  |  identity verification  |  Unico  |  United States