South African startup iiDENTIFii raises record $15m

The biometrics start-up iiDENTIFii in South Africa has raised $15 million in expansion financing.

The Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, Norfund, Rabobank Partnerships, and African investment firm Arise were among the round’s key investors (FMO). The largest African series A in the identity verification sector to yet is this one.

The company iiDENTIFii is regarded as a pioneer in biometric identification. Users may quickly and securely authenticate themselves using their cell phones or PCs thanks to its sophisticated facial authentication technology. It is utilised by the biggest pan-African banks, insurance, and mining companies for both employee and consumer authentication across a variety of industry verticals.

Standard Bank, Absa, and Investec Bank are a few of the clients. Along with Arise, other investors in the round include seasoned American software entrepreneur Bill Spruill and growth-stage private equity company Sanari Capital.

With the help of this financing, iiDENTIFii plans to expand throughout Africa. The continent is increasingly at risk from financial sector cybercrime. Financial services and banking apps that process sensitive financial information are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of attackers using security flaws.

The solution from iiDENTIFii is an essential component of financial inclusion, digital inclusion, and identity inclusion on the continent since it uses biometric authentication to protect access to this sensitive financial information.

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iiDENTIFii founder and CEO Gur Geva says, “I’m tremendously proud of our engineering team and our success as a company over the past three years.”

“This investment supports our core business tenet, which is that we are Africa’s go-to provider of enterprise-grade identity. As we get closer to achieving our objective of authenticating every face in Africa, we’re eager to put the investment to use. We boldly continue our mission to end identity theft in Africa with the help of this new money and the networks of Arise, Sanari, and Bill.”

According to Arise CEO Gavin Tipper, this investment “complements Arise’s portfolio of bank investments across Sub-Saharan Africa and marks our debut into the African fintech industry.” “We are thrilled about our cooperation with iiDENTIFii, which will enable us to provide their cutting-edge technology to banks in Sub-Saharan Africa, boosting digital anti-money laundering procedures and advancing financial inclusion,” says the company.

According to Sihle Gumede of Sanari Capital, “At Sanari, we lay a heavy emphasis on technology and human enablement to unlock corporate potential.” Therefore, iiDENTIFii is a fantastic addition to our investment portfolio, and we look forward to participating in its ongoing growth. We are eager to collaborate in the creation of a scalable and long-lasting pan-African biometrics enterprise.

Bill Spruill adds, “As an investor and entrepreneur, I’ve had a lot of experience with disruptive technology.” “I am eager to witness the impact that the work being done by iiDENTIFii will have on the African continent.”

In November 2022, in Lisbon, Portugal, iiDENTIFii will compete for the worldwide championship after recently winning KPMG’s Tech Innovator in Africa award. It has previously received honours such as Microsoft Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner of the Year and MTN App of the Year, among others.