Cloud

Evident raises $20 million to verify users’ credentials and identities


Identity fraud is more common than you might think. In 2017, 6.64% of consumers, or 1 in 15 people, had their identities stolen or compromised. And in 2016, there were 1,579 data breaches exposing an estimated 179 million records.

So how’s a company to know whether an online customer or employee is who they say they are? This perennial problem inspired Motorola Solutions veterans Damian Starosielsky, David Thomas, and Nathan Rowe to found Evident, a startup providing identity and credential verifications through an API. Three years post-launch, business continues to grow at a healthy clip with year-over-year customer growth holding steady at 300%, and now, with fresh venture capital in hand, Atlanta, Georgia-based Evident is preparing to expand its reach.

Evident today announced that it’s secured $20 million in series B financing led by Aspect Ventures, with participation from existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Blue Cloud Ventures, and Internet Security Systems founder Tom Noonan. Thomas, who serves as CEO, said the funding will be used to expand Evident’s team and further develop its AI and machine learning, computer vision, and facial recognition technologies.

“Evident is solving the most complex identification problems for high-volume businesses with sensitive applications by verifying millions of attributes in a secure and efficient way,” Thomas added. “With this new infusion of capital, we can scale to meet the increasing demands of current customers and marketplaces, as well as continue to grow in additional markets and industries including insurance, healthcare and financial services.”

Evident ID

Above: Evident’s mobile app.

Image Credit: Evident

Evident pitches its Identity Assurance Platform as a step-up and continuous verification solution for hiring, onboarding, and registration. Toward that end, said platform can check up to thousands of identities at once against a library of “hundreds” of continuously updated sources, like criminal history and watch lists, education and employment histories, driver’s records, professional licenses, insurance status, skills, assets, drug and medical records, financial records, and addresses, to name a few.

Identity Assurance is customizable — it offers several different proofing levels and options — and moreover, it’s secure. Users are prompted to provide identifying documents at account registration time, and their data is encrypted end-to-end with personal keys and summarized before it’s submitted. Additionally, users can choose which personal information they share, and they’re able to revoke access to their data at any time.

On the business side of things, admins create a verification request in Evident’s web portal and select the credentials they need, and optionally create rules that automate applicant evaluations. No matter which tools they choose, Evident says they meet the regulatory compliance requirements laid out in KYC, AML, and GDPR.

Evident isn’t alone in a global identity and access market that’s anticipated to be worth $22.68 billion by 2025. New York-based Socure nabbed $30 million in February for its cloud-based identity verification and fraud prevention solution. Global identity verification provider Onfido raised $50 million just last month, and troubled identity management firm Jumio recently found more stable footing and launched a new authentication product.

But Evident is killing it on the customer acquisition front. Companies like Airbnb, Porch, Mobiliti, Helpr, Urbansitter, Wag, Airbnb, Marsh, TravelCar, Porch, FirstSteps, Roomi, Sifted, Juggle, Pronto, Homee, Jobble, and GetMyBoat tap its services.

“Data privacy regulations and the increasing cost of data breaches are driving companies to seek out solutions for getting the verified personal information they need, without having to handle the personal data themselves,” said Aspect Ventures partner Lauren Kolodny. “Evident’s platform is wholly unique in its ability to help businesses verify identity and a wide range of credentials with less risk and friction.”

Evident has offices in Kraków, Poland in addition to Atlanta.

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