According to a TechCrunch article, Verihubs, an Indonesia-based ID and data verification business, has secured US $2.8 million in initial investment headed by Insignia Venture Partners.
The round was also joined by Central Capital Ventura (CCV), an investment arm of Bank Central Asia (BCA), and Singapore-based Amand Ventures.
Shipper co-founder Budi Handoko, Payfazz co-founders Jefriyanto and Ricky Winata, BukuWarung founder Chinmay Chauhan, Modalku ex-CPO Pramodh Rai, and Singapore’s Gotrade co-founder Rohit Mulani was among the angel investors in this round.
The cash from CCV will be used to enhance Verihubs’ products for end-users who have a BCA account, according to the conditions of the deal.
The firm is also collaborating with Payfazz, an Indonesian financial services platform, to assist unbanked customers with depositing money with local agents for online payments. Verihubs will be able to access transaction data with the aid of BukuWarung, accounting software for SMEs.
Verihubs will also utilise some of the funds to expand its product pipeline, which will include developing its own credit ratings based on transaction and account balance data.
Verihubs was founded in 2019 by Rick Firnando and Williem Williem to let Indonesian digital businesses authenticate their customers’ identities, check their backgrounds, and obtain access to their financial information.
Verihubs’ technology may be used in e-commerce, rental markets, and hotels; however, it is primarily focused on the banking and finance industries.
The company utilises AI-based identity authentication technologies and APIs to cut verification time from weeks to seconds, allowing companies to continue certifying returning customers via SMS, WhatsApp, or flash calls, as well as doing KYC checks.
When end users first enter into a Verihubs-enabled app, they must snap a selfie and then submit a photo of a government-issued photo ID. The AI will analyse the two images and cross-reference the ID with telecom credit scores and Indonesian government databases, including criminal records.
After attaining product-market fit in Indonesia, the business plans to expand into additional Southeast Asian markets.
According to a study published by Fenergo in 2020, banking institutions throughout the world were fined more than US $10.6 billion for non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC), data protection, and MiFID rules. Fines for financial services businesses in the Asia Pacific alone totaled more than US$5.1 billion as a result of regulatory crackdowns on their illegal activities.
