Digital ID Firm Socure Raises $100 Million To Advance Fraud Detection

Digital identity startup Socure closed a $100 million Series D funding round led by Accel with backing from existing investors Commerce Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Flint Capital, Citi Ventures, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Synchrony, Sorenson, Two Sigma Ventures and others. 

The company’s mission is “to ensure 100% trusted identity” for all web-based applications and transactions, Socure Co-Founder and CEO Johnny Ayers said in a Tuesday (March 16) press release.

“We are now more confident than ever that we will be the first company to eliminate identity fraud while unlocking complete and fully-automated coverage of every good ID,” he said.

The company will use the new funds to grow its digital identity verification business across every consumer-facing vertical — online gaming, healthcare, telco, eCommerce and on-demand services. Funds will also go towards product innovation and add to its growing patent portfolio.

Accel Partner Amit Jhawar, previously general manager of Venmo, will join Socure’s board of directors.

“The COVID-19 year accelerated our global shift to a digital-first economy and with that came security challenges,” Jhawar said. “The Socure team accurately predicted the immediate need for identity verification solutions in industries like banking and fintech, and we’re excited by the tremendous opportunity as Socure expands to support new industries.”

Socure’s predictive analytics platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques with digital and offline data intelligence from email, phone, address, IP, device, velocity and the broader internet to verify identities in real time.

The company now has over 350 customers across numerous sectors, including three top-five banks, six top-10 card issuers and more than 75 of the biggest FinTechs, including Varo Money, Public, Chime and Stash.

Socure has raised a total of $196 million, including a $35 million funding round in August 2020 led by Sorenson Ventures. The funds were earmarked for the company’s expansion efforts and to improve its machine learning capabilities. 

Synthetic identity fraud — created with a cross-section of real and fake information — costs banks in excess of $6 billion a year. The pandemic has seen the issue grow, especially while onboarding new users.