Youverify, a 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 providing off-the-shelf and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions to public and private institutions in Saudi Arabia. Customized digital solutions.
Elm’s pre-Series A investment also includes strategic partnerships to help Youverify simplify anti-money laundering compliance for enterprises, enhance global risk intelligence and expand its products into new markets.
Since 2022, Youverify has expanded its real-time business verification coverage to 145 jurisdictions in 48 countries. In addition, the platform also covers instant personal verification in 46 countries, including credit history and national identity numbers, according to founder and CEO Gbenga Odegbami, who launched the startup in 2018. The CEO mentioned in a conference call with TechCrunch that Youverify exceeded its original goal set during its 2022 seed expansion round to expand coverage to 30 African countries.
Still, the company currently only serves business customers in 12 countries. In these countries, Youverify processes 4 million applications per month for more than 3,500 businesses with 800 active customers. This marks a significant increase from 400 businesses and 5 million application processes per year in 2022. In addition, the platform’s ability to verify IDs has expanded from 400 million people to 5 billion people, as well as 600 million businesses in various industries such as gaming, travel, healthcare and telecommunications.
“Individuals and businesses can use government data through Youverify to verify their identity, registration status, and ownership. This is not OCR-based universal KYC, which uses image recognition to verify the ID provided to them. In addition, we have launched counter- Money laundering and risk classification products to solve problems in some of these industries,” the CEO noted.
“For example, our risk classifications determine the anti-money laundering and financial risk exposures our clients pose. We leverage a variety of reliable data sources, including government sanctions and watch lists, sentiment data from global news media, country risk models and Commercially available data to make informed decisions about anti-money laundering related risks.”
He elaborated that Youverify’s approach requires the use of established mathematical models and artificial intelligence algorithms to assess and analyze risks. The platform then generates regulatory reports that are submitted to regulatory agencies in multiple countries. Other providers in the same space include Smile Identity, Dojah and Identitypass.
The surge in Africa’s financial services industry has drawn increasing attention from regulators. Reports indicate that the total number of transactions conducted through digital payment channels will reach $116 billion this year, necessitating strict measures to combat identity theft and fraud. As a result, there is an increasing emphasis on financial regulatory transparency and the adoption of regulatory technology (regtech) to enhance anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (KYC) strategies. As global demand for regtech solutions rises, Africa is expected to follow suit.
Odegbami emphasized that working with various market regulators has honed Youverify’s proficiency in compliance and cultural sensitivity. This expertise enables the company to tailor its solutions to meet different enterprise needs. These experiences highlight the growing importance of the governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) market globally, which is currently worth more than $57 billion annually.
“We are delighted to partner with Youverify, a company that shares our vision of leveraging technology to solve the critical challenges facing businesses today,” said Fahad bin Issa Ibrahim Al-Shathry, Vice President of Elm Investment. “This partnership is a testament to our Committed to partnering with outstanding founders and investing in emerging technology ecosystems to increase efficiency, security and trust not only in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but globally.”
