SentiLink Raises $70M To Bolster ID Verification

SentiLink, a provider of identity verification technology, announced on Thursday (Aug. 5) that it has raised $70 million in a Series B funding round. David Sacks of Craft Ventures led the round, which included participation from Felicis Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and NYCA. The latest funding round brings SentiLink’s total raised to $85 million.

The four-year-old company will use the funding to expand its team and build out its product offerings. David Sacks and Victoria Treyger, of Felicis, will become part of SentiLink’s board as observers, the release stated.

In an era of increasing instances of identity theft, online schemes and widespread data breaches, identity verification is of the utmost importance. As PYMNTS reported previously, a study determined that 47 percent of companies had experienced fraud at least one time in the last two years. The cost of identity theft and fraud continues to grow at a fever pitch, with a grand total of $42 billion in funds stolen over this period, according to the report.

Identity fraud is the most common threat to financial institutions (FIs), with scammers posing as customers to gain access to their accounts or to secure loans they will not repay.

Read more: Report: Overcoming ID Fraud’s Technology Blind Spots

SentiLink works with more than 100 FIs to combat synthetic fraud and identity theft. Its tools spot counterfeit and stolen identities in real time. The company employs risk analysts whose job involves investigating new types of fraud. The company collaborates with clients to share new fraud trends and analyze specific instances on an ongoing basis. SentiLink said it has verified several hundred million applications since its inception in 2017.

“Despite businesses spending large amounts of time and money trying to figure out if people are who they say they are, identity fraud is rampant, and real customers suffer from false positives and unnecessary friction,” SentiLink Co-founder and CEO Naftali Harris said. “Our new approach is grounded in our deep understanding of fraud and identity and is changing how identity verification works in the U.S.”