VerifyA Nigerian provider of identity verification and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions for banks and startups has secured a $2.5 million investment from Elm, which specializes in offering turnkey and customized digital solutions to public and private institutions in Saudi Arabia.
Elm’s pre-Series A investment also includes a strategic partnership to help Youverify optimize AML compliance for businesses, enhance global risk intelligence and expand its products into new markets.
As of 2022, Youverify has expanded its real-time business verification coverage to 145 jurisdictions in 48 countries. In addition, the platform offers coverage for real-time individual verification, including credit history and national ID numbers, in 46 countries, according to the founder and CEO Gbenga Odegbami who launched the startup in 2018. The CEO told TechCrunch that Youverify surpassed the initial goal set during the startup expansion round in 2022, which was to expand coverage to 30 African countries.
However, the company currently serves commercial customers in only 12 countries. In these countries, Youverify processes 4 million monthly applications for more than 3,500 businesses with 800 active customers. This marks a significant increase from the 400 businesses and 5 million application processes per year recorded in 2022. In addition, the platform’s ability to verify IDs has expanded from 400 million to 5 billion people — as well as 600 million businesses across industries such as gaming, travel, healthcare and telecommunications.
“Individuals and businesses can verify their identity, registration status and ownership using their government data through Youverify. This is not generic OCR-based KYC, which uses image recognition to validate the ID presented to it. Plus, we started our own combating money laundering and risk classification product to address some of these industries,” the CEO noted.
“For example, our risk classification determines the AML and financial risk exposure that clients present to our clients. We use a variety of reliable data sources, including government sanctions and watchlists, global news sentiment data, country risk models and commercially accessible data, to make informed decisions about AML-related risks.”
He explains that Youverify’s approach involves using established mathematical models and artificial intelligence algorithms to assess and analyze risks. The platform then generates regulatory reports for submission to regulatory authorities in multiple countries. Other providers in the same space include Smile Identity, Dojah and Identitypass.
The growth of financial services across Africa has caught the attention of regulators. Reports indicate that transactions totaling $116 billion will be made through digital payment channels this year, calling for strict measures to combat identity theft and fraud. Accordingly, there is an increasing emphasis on transparency in financial regulations and strengthening AML and Know Your Customer (KYC) strategies through the adoption of regulatory technologies (regtech). Africa expects to follow suit as demand for regtech solutions grows globally.
Odegbami emphasizes that working with regulators in various markets has improved Youverify’s proficiency in compliance and cultural sensitivity. This expertise allows the company to tailor its solutions to meet different business requirements. Such experiences underscore the growing global importance of the governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) market, which today exceeds $57 billion annually.
“We are excited to partner with Youverify, a company that shares our vision of leveraging technology to solve critical challenges facing businesses today,” said Fahad bin Issa Ibrahim Al-Shathry, Vice President of Elm Investment. “This partnership is a testament to our commitment to working with great founders by investing in a nascent technology ecosystem not only in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but globally to drive efficiency, security and trust.”
