African Identity Verification Platform Smile Identity Raises $20 Million to Expand Into New Markets

Africa’s leading identity verification and digital platform Smile Identity has raised $20 million in Series B funding to expand its product and services into new markets.

The funding round was led by Costanoa and Norrsken 22, with participation from other Investors such as Two culture capital, Courtside Ventures, Value stream Ventures, Intercept Ventures, Latitude, Future Africa, and 500 fintech. Lexi Novitske from Norrsken 22 will also join Smile identity’s board as part of the series B funding. This brings the total funds raised to $31 million including $7 million in series A funding raised in 2021.

Investors King understands that the recent funds raised will help Smile identity to expand its product and engineering team, accelerating the development of specialization of its AI-powered biometrics, document verification, anti-fraud and compliance solutions tailored for new African markets.

The startup is optimistic that the money raised will enable it to partner with the governments of African countries as well as ID authorities to create consumer consent standards, enforce local African data protection laws, and share data on fraud and financial inclusion trends.

Speaking on its expansion plan, the company’s CEO Mark Straub said, “we believe the majority of people are honest. The challenge in the digital age is to prove this regardless of how a user is on boards, whether via agents, apps, tablets, the web, blockchains, or paper forms. We are thrilled to have the support of our partners and investors as we solve this problem across IDs, devices, and compliance regimes to ensure Africans are among the most trusted in the world”.

Since its operation in 2017, Smile Identity has been leading the way in digital transformation, providing secure and verifiable identities for millions. The startup has been driven by a desire to ensure that any African, anywhere in the world, can easily verify their identity.

Currently, Smile Identity is developing tools and software that will revolutionize the way millions of Africans prove and authenticate their identities online. Its artificial intelligence and identity verification tools have been specially designed for African faces and have a 99.8 percent accuracy rate.