Identity Verification Technology Startup Aims to Help Financial Institutions Detect Fraud
San Francisco-based SentiLink, a leading identity verification technology startup, has raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Craft Ventures. The financing brings the company’s total raised to $85 million since its inception in 2017. Felicis Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and NYCA also participated in the funding round.
Founders’ Background and Inspiration
SentiLink was founded in mid-2017 by Naftali Harris and Max Blumenfeld, who met while working as data scientists at Affirm, an installment loan provider. During their tenure at Affirm, they encountered a peculiar fraud case involving 12 individuals with the same name and date of birth but different Social Security numbers. All 12 identities had real credit reports with 750+ credit scores, despite not being actual people.
This experience sparked an epiphany for Harris and Blumenfeld, who realized the massive problem identity verification was facing and how poorly it was done. They leveraged their expertise to create SentiLink, aiming to provide financial institutions with a reliable solution to detect fraud.
Solution and Growth
SentiLink’s AI-powered platform uses machine learning algorithms to verify identities, reduce false positives, and increase authentication accuracy. The startup has seen rapid growth since its inception, driven by the increasing demand for identity verification solutions in the fintech industry.
The company has partnered with several leading financial institutions, including banks and payment processors, to integrate their solution into existing systems. SentiLink’s platform is designed to be scalable and adaptable to various industries and use cases.
Future Plans
With this latest funding round, SentiLink plans to expand its product offerings, invest in research and development, and continue to grow its team. The company aims to launch a KYC (Know Your Customer) solution in the next few months and is also exploring partnerships with other companies in the identity verification space.
Founders’ Quotes
"We love it when founders have an earned secret or insight around a massive problem that outsiders don’t understand, and SentiLink is a perfect example of this," said Mike Marg, a principal at Craft Ventures. "Their fast growth only validated that the problem they were solving for customers was urgent and painful."
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About SentiLink
SentiLink is a San Francisco-based identity verification technology startup that aims to provide financial institutions with a reliable solution to detect fraud. The company’s AI-powered platform uses machine learning algorithms to verify identities, reduce false positives, and increase authentication accuracy.
Contact Information
For more information about SentiLink or its solutions, please visit their website at www.sentalink.com.