Socure Acquires Berbix in $70M Deal

Socure has acquired selfie-based remote identity verification startup Berbix in a cash and stock transaction valued at about $70 million, marking Socure’s first foray into acquisitions.

Founded in 2018 by two of the leaders of Airbnb’s Trust and Safety team, Berbix has developed a comprehensive identity verification solution, combining document verification, biometric authentication, customization options, compliance features, and a user-friendly experience. Likewise, Socure offers an identity verification platform that leverages a range of data sources and predictive analytics to assess the risk associated with an individual’s identity, and also features biometric and behavioral analysis techniques.

In announcing the move, the company highlighted the “patent-pending forensics engine” of Berbix’s solution, which they say can detect spoofed IDs including AI-generated fakes, even when they are indistinguishable to the human eye. Socure has integrated Berbix’s technology into its Predictive Document Verification (DocV) 3.0 solution, which CEO Johnny Ayers calls “a significant departure from legacy providers whose document verification models rely on simple template checks and rules to determine if a document is legitimate.”

Ayers went on to note the considerable cost savings and revenue generate that more sophisticated identity verification technology can facilitate.

“A global enterprise, for example, can see an extra $86.1 million in revenue in a single year with Predictive DocV 3.0,” he said. “If they’re running 500,000 checks a month on consumers with a lifetime value of $50, improving auto-acceptance of customers by 26% can mean a lift in revenue of $78 million over 12 months.” Likewise, cutting fraud can save a large organization millions of dollars over the same period.

The acquisition positions Socure for international expansion by offering global coverage of ICAO-compliant travel documents, passports, and national ID cards. In addition, Socure’s natural language processing capabilities enable fast onboarding of new ID documents with changing formats, contributing to the company’s mission of achieving radical accuracy in identity verification.

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June 28, 2023 – by the FindBiometrics Editorial Team