UK-based fraud prevention company Keyless has departed from Sift and has secured funds to accelerate adoption of its biometric authentication solutions beyond Europe. Keyless has additionally raised USD 6 million in funding from prominent European venture capitalists, led by Rialto Ventures.

This funding injection increases Keyless' total funding to USD 26 million. End-to-end identity lifecycle security and compliance Keyless unifies the entire end-to-end identity lifecycle with privacy-preserving biometric authentication, helping to continuously assure the genuine identity of the user from the initial onboarding and account creation, through to step-up actions, transaction signing (including PSD2 SCA compliance), and account recovery. The company’s patented technology not only fortifies protection against account takeover attacks and identity theft but also ensures compliance with global data protection and privacy regulations, such as the GDPR.

Officials from Keyless emphasise the shifting authentication landscape in Europe, stating that organisations across many sectors are intensifying their fraud defences, spotlighting the inadequacy of current authentication methods in effectively establishing user identity, particularly during account recovery. Rialto VC’s representatives underscored Keyless' potential, noting that the company addresses the urgent need for end-to-end authentication solutions that enhance security throughout the identity lifecycle. This capital infusion is pivotal in advancing their market strategy and expanding the adoption of their private-by-design biometric authentication solutions.

Ensuring privacy and the authenticity of user identities Thanks to its privacy-preserving cryptographic capabilities, Keyless can create universal biometric profiles that can be used to assure the identity of the genuine user at any point in the identity lifecycle without needing to store biometric data anywhere, delivering superior security while preserving user privacy. This addresses the challenge faced by vendors relying on device-bound biometric capabilities such as FaceID, which do not authenticate the genuine person behind the device, but rather authenticate the device itself, making it difficult to prove that it is the authorised account holder. Server-side biometric solutions, which solve the identity portability issues with device-based authentication, come with the challenge of storing sensitive biometric data in centralised databases.

Even if the data is encrypted at rest, it still represents personal identifiable information (PII) and poses a massive risk to the business. Emerging private-by-design solutions, such as Keyless, are solving this trade-off, and for the first time, enabling businesses to balance seamless user experiences with compliance needs and strong security. Securing strategic independence and funding This latest round is also the startup’s first as a newly independent company.

In a strategic move, Keyless mutually agreed to separate from parent company Sift earlier in 2023. The separation comes after the two companies found that their respective products were best suited to servicing differing markets. The team at Keyless sees increasing appetite for their biometric authentication solutions across high-profile sectors, such as the banking and financial services markets.

Being independent allows them to better serve the needs of these markets. Thanks to increasing adoption of its flagship Zero-Knowledge Biometrics technology, Keyless continues to pave the way for privacy-preserving biometric authentication. This funding serves as a testament to their commitment to reshape the authentication landscape in a rapidly evolving digital era.

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