Irish verification firm ID-Pal raises €7m in funding round

Money will help support Colum Lyons’s company in its expansion into international markets

Irish online verification company ID-Pal has raised €7 million in a Series A funding round that will help grow the company as it targets expansion in new markets.

The funding round was led by Inspire Investments, the private holding company for the management of Waystone that is led by chief executive Derek Delaney, with Act Venture Capital also participating, backing the company in a second round.

ID-Pal said it would allow it grow its global sales and marketing operations and meet growing demand for its solution. The Dublin-based company launched officially in the UK earlier this year.

Founded by Colum Lyons in 2016, ID-Pal provides solutions for businesses to ensure compliance with regulatory identity requirements. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) developer uses mobile technology to allow clients facilitate verification of their customers’ identities quickly and easily. It enables document verification, facial matching, liveness testing and address e-verification in real time.

READ MORE

Among its customers are One4all, Zurich, Elavon, Trident Trust, BDO, American National University and Global Shares.

‘Milestone achievement’

“Raising €7 million in Series A funding is a milestone achievement for our company and a testament to the product the team has built. ID-Pal identified a clear gap in the market in 2016 that traditional providers were not serving. We designed a solution that brings agility, convenience and compliance to businesses of any size. Whether you are an SME or enterprise client, our global coverage and seamless user experience stands out from what other providers offer,” Mr Lyons said.

“The faith in our product shown by Inspire Investments and long-time champions of ID-Pal, Act Venture Capital, signals their confidence in the trajectory that we are on.”

The company said it has seen significant growth in recent months, expanding both its customer base and its staff. It has also signed strategic partnerships with market leaders such as HID Global, RiskScreen, Sherpa Technologies, Temenos and Vesta.

“We believe a good product is secondary to leadership but, across the first seeding round, we saw the product go from strength to strength and by the time the third round came the strength of the product, management and clients were all on a par,” Mr Delaney said. “As such, the Waystone management who have been invested in ID-Pal across multiple rounds felt we could confidently present the full Series A to our colleagues.”

ID Pal was named winner of the IT and fintech category in The Irish Times Innovation Awards for 2021. Prior to this, it was one of 14 companies from across Europe selected to participate in Salesforce Ventures’ virtual incubator, EMEA Accelerate.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist