UK-based facial biometrics software developer Onfido collected $100m in funding yesterday from investors including software provider Microsoft and customer relationship management software producer Salesforce, VentureBeat reported.
The round was led by TPG Growth, part of private equity group TPG, and also featured undisclosed additional backers. Salesforce and Microsoft took part through corporate venturing subsidiaries Salesforce Ventures and M12 respectively.
Onfido has developed facial biometrics technology that verifies a mobile device user’s identity. The software relies on artificial intelligence to compare a photograph of an identification document such as a passport with a selfie taken by the user.
The platform is also capable of running background checks and generating risk reports. The company launched out of the software incubator run by Oxford University’s tech transfer office, Oxford University Innovation, in 2012.
The funding will drive global expansion efforts for Onfido that will focus on North America, and to double down on research and development activities.
Salesforce Ventures and SBI Investment, a venture capital arm of financial services firm SBI, co-led a $50m round for the company in April 2019 that included M12 and CreditEase Ventures, the investment vehicle for online lender CreditEase.
Fin Venture Capital, Acequia Capital, Tuesday Capital, Crane Venture Partners, Idinvest Partners, Augmentum Fintech, Wellington Partners, B&Y Venture Partners, TempoCap and Talis Capital filled out the 2019 round.
M12 and Salesforce Ventures had previously participated in a $30m series C round for Onfido in 2017 that was led by Crane Venture Partners.
The company had raised an undisclosed sum from Salesforce Ventures, Talis Capital, Charlie Songhurst and Hank Vigil in August 2016, four months after picking up $25m in series B funding from Idinvest Partners and existing backers Wellington Partners and Tuesday Capital.
