A Vancouver-based startup has raised $15 million in funding to bolster its efforts to break into the banking industry.
Trulioo, which specializes in online identity verification, described the fundraising round as the largest in 2015 for Canada’s financial technology (FinTech) sector.
CEO and founder Stephen Ufford said in a statement the $15 million would help bring Trulioo’s flagship GlobalGateway product into the banking industry.
GlobalGateway compares registration information against data collected by credit bureaus, utility companies, mobile carriers and government agencies to verify users’ identities.
“We’re pretty unique in the market and we’re looking globally to solve the compliance and Know Your Customer-type problems that the industry is facing,” Trulioo president Jon Jones told Business In Vancouver, referring to the process businesses go through to verify clients.
“It’s also fantastic that we’ve got AmEx Ventures as part of the funding round, which obviously gives a lot of weight in terms of the merits that the banking industry can see and the value of our capabilities as well.”
In addition to new partner American Express Ventures, money was also raised through existing investors BDC Capital, Blumberg Capital and Tenfore Holdings.
Rohit Bodas, partner at American Express Ventures, said in a statement his firm has been impressed with Trulioo’s breadth of global consumer data.
“Conducting identity verification checks to onboard new customers and merchants in multiple countries is a complex problem and an important issue for the financial industry.”
Trulioo has more than 100 sources of data — the aforementioned credit bureaus or utility companies — in more than 40 countries that it says are capable of verifying the identities of up to 4 billion potential consumers.
Clients that have used Trulioo’s identification verification service include Kickstarter and FinTech players like PayPal and Square.
Jones said the company has about 30 employees and hopes to expand that in the coming year by about 60% with help from the latest fundraising round.
