GSR Ventures leads round with minority investment to scale ID R&D’s biometric authentication solutions
NEW YORK, May 30, 2019 — ID R&D, the award-winning biometrics technology provider offering AI-based voice and behavioral biometrics and voice and face anti-spoofing technologies, announced today that it has raised $5.7 million in Series A venture capital funding.
The funding round, led by new investor GSR Ventures, and with participation from existing investor Gagarin Capital, comes amid rapid adoption of ID R&D authentication technology and company growth. Operating cash flow positive since 2017, ID R&D is adding GSR Ventures as an investor to meet the increasing demand for the company’s portfolio of award-winning multimodal biometric solutions. Last year, ID R&D doubled the number of sales contracts and opened a West Coast headquarters to accommodate the doubling of its staff. In Q1 2019 alone, the company grew its customer base by an additional 25%, including adding both a major biometric integrator and semiconductor company. The Series A venture capital funding will be used to expand its engineering teams and accelerate marketing and international sales.
With rapid growth of the conversational interface (CI), businesses are increasingly recognizing the need for authentication solutions that balance convenience and security. Spoken passwords, security questions, and texted or emailed passcodes introduce cumbersome steps to the login process that are both disruptive to a user’s experience and vulnerable to compromise by bad actors. As customers engage more deeply with technology through intelligent assistants, chatbots, IoT devices, and mobile and web applications, enterprises are seeking ways to offer a better user experience by verifying customers quickly, accurately, and imperceptibly.
Launched in 2016, ID R&D combines the latest scientific research and development to deliver multiple biometric modalities for frictionless and secure biometric authentication. Unlike other products in the market, ID R&D’s core technologies and solutions require very little or no involvement from the user, eliminating unnecessary elements of the authentication user experience. Beyond just recognizing users, the company also offers passive anti-spoofing capabilities that can distinguish synthesized or recorded speech from a live user’s voice and detect fraudulent login attempts using a picture, video, or model of a user’s face.
“What we’ve consistently heard from our customers is that ID R&D’s technologies and solutions stand alone in offering a vastly simplified user experience that doesn’t sacrifice the security of authentication,” said Alexey Khitrov, ID R&D CEO. “With Grand View Research forecasting the speech and voice recognition market size to reach nearly $32 billion by 2025, businesses are racing to keep up with demand for authentication that works across multiple platforms and is as convenient as it is secure. We’re committed to leading the market with new science-driven capabilities and building on the confidence and trust our customers have placed in us.”
Leveraging decades of combined biometric expertise, ID R&D’s technology suite includes standalone technical components and packaged products for voice and behavioral biometrics, and voice and face anti-spoofing. Available for mobile apps, web apps, chatbots, conversational interfaces, and messaging platforms, ID R&D technology offers industry-leading authentication speed and accuracy.
“As we talk to CTOs and CISOs, it’s clear that rapid expansion in the prevalence and functionality of voice-enabled applications and devices has increased the need to protect these access points and the services they provide,” said Sunny Kumar, Partner at GSR Ventures. “ID R&D has developed the best voice biometric authentication solution, providing a critical layer of security to these devices. We are thrilled to be partnering with ID R&D to make voice biometrics the new standard in authentication.”
“We have been fascinated by the scope and applicability of ID R&D’s technology since the day of our first investment in the company. Its solutions complement a lot of industries and ID R&D is well-positioned to completely transform the way user authentication works,” said Nikolay Davidov, co-founder of Gagarin Capital. “ID R&D has an impressive track record to date and we look forward to the company achieving even greater success with the help of new funding.”
About ID R&D
ID R&D is an award-winning provider of multi-modal biometric security solutions based in New York, NY. With more than 25 years of experience in biometrics, the company’s management and development teams apply the latest scientific breakthroughs to significantly enhance authentication experiences. ID R&D combines a science-driven seamless authentication experience with the capabilities of a leading research and development team. ID R&D’s focus is on behavioral biometrics, voice biometrics, voice and face anti-spoofing, keystroke dynamics, and biometric fusion. Learn more at www.idrnd.net.
About GSR Ventures
GSR Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage companies in consumer technology, enterprise software, healthcare services, robotics, fintech, new media, and emerging technologies. GSR Ventures is a global investor that invests primarily in the United States, China, and Southeast Asia. Notable investments include Didi Chuxing, ele.me, Qunar, and Shanghai DZH. GSR Ventures currently manages about $2 billion across its funds.
About Gagarin Capital
Gagarin Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in AI-based products and services. Being one of the most active AI investors in the world, GCP has added 19 machine learning focused startups to its portfolio in the last 2 years. The firm has a hands-on approach and its partners use their 20 year experience in VC, PE, and M&A to facilitate portfolio companies in a wide spectrum of vital activities — from corporate governance to mastering new markets. GCP is known for building and supporting a strong community of AI experts and top-in-class engineers. Their exits include MSQRD (acquired by Facebook) and AIMatter (acquired by Google).