News Flash: Funding Flows into Digital ID Firms

Growing demand for robust identification helps specialists raise tens of millions of dollars

Investors are injecting more money into digital identity companies, as the market grows rapidly. London-based identity verification and authentication company Onfido has raised US$100 million in a funding round led by TPG Growth, while San-Francisco based access management software company ForgeRock has raised a further US$93.5 million from existing investors. “This fundraising comes on the heels of a transformational year where ForgeRock grew very quickly and crossed US$100 million in ARR (annual revenue run rate) as we acquired over 200 new large enterprise customers,” wrote Fran Rosch, CEO of ForgeRock, in a blog post.

Onfido plans to use its new funding to help build an alternative “identity verification” layer for the internet to replace credit bureaus, Facebook logins and other established channels, according to a report by TechCrunch. The start-up uses artificial intelligence to review a person’s identity documents and facial recognition and other data points to verify a person’s identity online. “Ultimately, everyone’s real identity is too important to be controlled by anyone other than themselves,” wrote Husayn Kassai, CEO and co-founder of Onfido, in a blog post. “As we get closer to making this new world a reality, we’re going to start competing with Big Tech.”

In March, the 500-year-old company Orell Füssli, which prints Swiss money, passports and driving licenses, took a stake in Procivis, a Zurich-based start-up that provides electronic ID systems to the public sector. Procivis says its technology forms the basis for the successful electronic ID solution employed by the Canton of Schaffhausen, which was the first Swiss canton to introduce an official digital identity for its residents.

To read the Onfido blog post click here, the TechCrunch article click here, the ForgeRock blog post click here and to read the Procivis blog post click here.