Smile Identity, the provider of ID verification, document verification, and digital KYC compliance solutions in Africa, has secured a $7 million investment co-led by Costanoa Ventures and CRE Venture Capital.
Other investors that participated include VCs like LocalGlobe, Intercept Ventures, Future Africa, and unnamed angel investors. Existing investors, including Khosla Impact, ValueStream Ventures, Beta Ventures, 500 Startups, and Story Ventures, also participated.
Founded in 2017 by Mark Straub and William Bares, Smile Identity believes anyone should be able to prove their identity easily, anywhere in the world. They have built encryption, authentication, and security solutions and have developed image processing technology from the chip level up.
Smile Identity plans to use the new investment to improve its services, expand across more markets, add support for more ID types, and hire more engineers and support staff across Africa. John Cowgill, a partner at Costanoa, will be joining Smile Identity’s board.
This is the second investment the startup is raising having secured a $4 million seed round in 2019.
Smile Identity is now present across six markets in Africa: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda. It covers more than 250 million identities and verification for 15 different ID types while performing over one million identity checks every month.
Its software is used in banking, fintech, ride-sharing, worker verification, public social welfare programs, and telecommunications.
Currently, the startup has about 80 customers and this includes payments companies like Paystack, Paga, and Chipper Cash; neo-banks like Kuda and Umba; traditional banks like Stanbic IBTC; cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Luno, and Paxful; and supply-chain businesses like Twiga.
