Nigerian Know-Your-Customer (KYC) startup Youverify has raised US$1 million in seed extension funding to take the total size of its round to US$2.5 million.
Launched in 2018, Youverify aims to help financial services companies and mobile operators automate the verification processes of different types of data treated separately today, such as identity, academic background, home address, credit history and facial recognition.
In the last 24 months, Youverify’s revenue and applications processes have grown by more than 1,000 per cent from 14 customers to more than 400 banks and high-growth startups. In the same period, the Company processed more than five million applications that helped its customers hire talent, sell financial products, and remotely onboard ride-hailing drivers.
Having raised a US$1.5 million seed round in 2020, the startup has now secured a US$1 million extension. The round was co-led by Orange Ventures and LoftyInc Capital Management, with additional investment from Octerra Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, Syntax Ventures, HTTP Investors, Afer Group and Fronesyz Capital.
Youverify will use the capital to accelerate its growth plans with expansion into new markets and industries. The company recently expanded into Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, and over the next 18 months plans to cover 30 countries, increasing the number of IDs it can verify from 400 million to two billion.
Moreover, the company will develop new automated compliance products for the gaming, travel, healthcare and telecommunications industries.
“We have seen the huge potential in the fragmented regtech market across Africa. We’re kicking off plans to plug in the gaps by expanding our marketplace to emerging and existing startups and traditional financial services companies across the continent. Our unique approach to providing compliance solutions gives us a strategic advantage due to our enterprise platform that goes the extra mile by helping businesses automate compliance workflow beyond basic identity verification,” said Dr. Gbenga Odegbami, Youverify CEO and co-founder.
“The number of financial service companies and platforms that are embedding financial services into their products will continue to grow in sub-Saharan Africa. All those companies will need to onboard customers and go through KYC, AML processes using a flexible solution such as Youverify. What is at stake now is to go beyond Nigeria. I am happy to see new investors joining the journey and proud to support this team since their seed round,” said Gregoire de Padirac, Orange Ventures principal.
