15 February 2023, London – Smile Identity, the top KYC onboarding and identity verification platform in Africa announces the successful conclusion of its USD 20 million Series B fundraising round. Featuring involvement from 500 Fintech, Commerce Ventures, Courtside Ventures, Two Culture Capital, Value stream Ventures, Intercept Ventures, Future Africa, and Costanoa under the leadership of Norrsken22 and Costanoa. As part of Series B, Lexi Novitske from Norrsken22 will also join the board of Smile Identity. Including the USD 7 million they obtained in their Series A investment round in 2021 puts Smile Identity’s total funding to USD 31 million.
With the money from its Series B investment, Smile Identity will be able to grow both its technical and product teams, which will speed up the creation of its specifically specialized AI-powered biometrics, document verification, anti-fraud, and compliance solutions for the African market. To complete its Pan-African reach, the firm is expanding its current teams in East, West, and Southern Africa. It also aims to access the Francophone and Arab-speaking markets through localized sales and support. The business will also keep up its intense collaboration with regulators and ID authorities to enforce African data protection laws, incorporate consumer consent standards into software, and exchange information on fraud and financial inclusion trends.
The problem in the digital era is to show this, regardless of how a user onboards – whether via agents, apps, tablets, the web, blockchains, or paper forms – since, according to Mark Straub, CEO and co-founder of Smile Identity, “we believe the majority of people are honest.”
As we address this issue across IDs, devices, and compliance regimes to make sure Africans are among the most trusted customers in the world, we are overjoyed to have the backing of our partners and investors.
Since their Series A investment round, Smile Identity has carried over 50M KYC checks for hundreds of partners throughout the African continent, assisting them in growing their companies by reducing fraud and smoothly onboarding new clients. With its Document Verification product, the firm provides global coverage, and it has recently expanded its products to include a Business Verification or “Know-Your-Business” (KYB) solution. In order to further demonstrate its dedication to linking Africans to international possibilities, Smile Identity has now created offices in London and Cape Town, as well as in South Africa and Uganda.
“Smile Identity is paving the path for Africa’s digital revolution by giving millions of people safe, verified IDs. Smile is well-positioned to seize a sizable portion of Africa’s expanding $1.5 billion identification and KYC market potential thanks to the leadership of CEO Mark Straub, a stellar staff, and a physical presence throughout the continent. Smile is promoting the use of financial services and influencing the development of the digital economy by providing the continent with a basis for secure transactions. (Lexi Novitske). “
We try our best to fact-check and bring the best, well-researched, and non-plagiarized content to you. Please let us know
-if there are any discrepancies in any of our published stories,
-how we can improve,
-what stories you would like us to cover and what information you are looking for, in the comments section below or through our contact form! We look forward to your feedback, and thank you for stopping by!
Next Article
