Onfido, the UK-based developer of a background and credentials checking service, received $30m in series C funding from investors including software provider Microsoft and enterprise software producer Salesforce.
The corporates, which participated through corporate venturing subsidiaries Microsoft Ventures and Salesforce Ventures, were joined by venture capital firm Crane Venture Partners, which led the round, as well as unnamed existing investors.
Founded in 2012, Onfido enables companies to digitally verify a user’s identity by using machine learning to analyse an identification document and comparing it with facial biometrics through a selfie image.
The technology is able to extract data from more than 600 types of documents, detecting anomalies automatically and sending outlier features to staff for manual verification. The platform is used by clients such as digital bank Revolut.
The funding will support Onfido’s research and development in machine learning technology, and will also allow it to cope with demand in the US and other international markets.
Onfido previously raised an undisclosed sum from Salesforce Ventures, Talis Capital and angel investors Charlie Songhurst and Hank Vigil in August 2016, following a $25m series B round in April 2016 that included Idinvest Partners, Wellington Partners and CrunchFund.
Wellington had previously led the company’s $4.5m series A round in 2015, with participation from CrunchFund and assorted angel investors.
University of Oxford contributed to Onfido’s £500,000 (then $800,000) seed round in 2014 through the Saïd Business School Entrepreneurship Centre’s Seed Fund, after Onfido had graduated from the software incubator of the institution’s tech transfer office, Oxford University Innovation.
Itxaso del Palacio, investment partner, Microsoft Ventures, said: “Smartphones are pervasive, powerful tools for accelerating the adoption of identity verification processes.
“Onfido’s reliable and scalable intelligent services are helping millions of unbanked people worldwide access financial services by allowing them to open bank accounts, be verified for a job and more with the touch of a button. We are proud to support its efforts with our investment.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.