Highlighting Liveness Tech, Mitek Acquires ID R&D

Biometric authentication specialist ID R&D has been acquired by Mitek, marking another notable acquisition in the industry after Microsoft agreed to purchase Nuance Communications earlier this spring.

ID R&D is perhaps best known for its face and voice recognition offerings, though the company also recently filed a patent for a system that would combine its facial recognition technology with a form of behavioral biometrics based on typing analytics.

Mitek, meanwhile, already has face biometrics technology of its own, which forms the basis for its selfie-based remote onboarding solution. Like numerous other selfie authentication specialists, Mitek has enjoyed growing demand in recent years, particularly in the wake of a global pandemic that has driven more business into online and remote channels.

That having been said, ID R&D’s passive liveness detection technology for facial recognition, as well as its anti-spoofing technology for voice recognition, appear to have proven particularly appealing to Mitek. The technologies are designed to detect presentation attacks in which genuine biometrics are mimicked, and they were highlighted in a statement announcing the acquisition.

“Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are enabling novel forms of fraud, which means technologies like those pioneered by ID R&D are critical in this fight,” explained Mitek CEO Max Carnecchia.

For his part, ID R&D CEO Alexey Khitrov said his team is “proud to join Mitek to scale our leading voice biometrics, facial liveness and deepfake detection technologies,” adding, “This move accelerates our vision to be the industry’s center of excellence to fight fraud more seamlessly without inconveniencing customers.”

According to the companies’ announcement, the deal will result in ID R&D shareholders being “entitled to receive up to $49 million in Mitek stock and cash as consideration.” ID R&D will continue to operate under its own brand, and to commercially offer its own core biometric components.

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June 1, 2021 – by Alex Perala