African Cybersecurity and Anti-Fraud Firm Identitypass Raises $2.8M in Seed Funding

Lagos-based cybersecurity and anti-fraud startup Identitypass has secured $2.8 million in seed funding that it will use to grow its suite of products and expand its platform into new regions, the company announced Thursday (May 12).

Marc Ventures led the seed funding round for Identitypass, which is also backed by Y Combinator, Soma Capital, True Capital Fund and Sherwani Capital LP and other funds. The company has raised $3.1 million in investor funding since launching its operations in 2021.

Identitypass helps businesses verify other businesses and track down cyberthreats and fraud in FinTech, cryptocurrency, mobility, EdTech, gig economy platforms and telecommunications companies, among other sectors. According to the announcement, the company processes millions of verification calls each month for more than 200 businesses in Nigeria, the U.K., Kenya, the U.S. and India.

The Identitypass team has introduced verification products into the African digital space, including a verification Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, biometrics technology and data verification endpoints.

The startup is focused now on expanding its existing infrastructure to make it easier for businesses to power digital identity services in more regions in Africa. It expects to roll out new vertical products and services to make it easier for users to track how their data is being used on the internet, as well as new customer ID verification products.

Identitypass also hopes to create a data security framework throughout Africa through its work with regulatory agencies across the region.

Meanwhile, cyberthreats have heightened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and fraudsters getting more sophisticated by the day, creating countless threats and vulnerabilities that require businesses to stay on top of their game to safeguard their data and systems from attackers.

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Inti De Ceukelaire, head of hackers at cybersecurity firm Intigriti, said firms that have gone through consultancy checks and many certifications have had to come to terms with the painful reality of how vulnerable their systems are to attacks.