Key Highlights:
- Verihubs announced the acquisition of $2.8 million in early investment led by Insignia Venture Partners.
- While the majority of Verihubs’ current clients are in the banking sector, the company’s technology may also be utilized in e-commerce, rental markets, and hotels.
- Verihubs is currently focused on Indonesia, with hopes to ultimately expand into other Southeast Asian regions.
Verihubs acquires $2.8M
Verihubs announced the acquisition of $2.8 million in early investment toward their aim of being “the one-stop-shop for verification in Southeast Asia.” Insignia Venture Partners led the round, with participation from CCV (Central Capital Ventura, the investment arm of Bank Central Asia, Indonesia’s biggest privately-owned bank), and Armand Ventures. Angel investors in the round include Shipper co-founder Budi Handoko, Payfazz co-founders Jefriyanto and Ricky Winata, Gotrade co-founder Rohit Mulani, Bukuwarung founder Chinmay Chauhan, and Modalku ex-chief product officer Pramodh Rai.
The business just completed its participation in Y Combinator’s summer 2021 batch and claims to be Indonesia’s first YC-backed AI startup.
Verihub: Making verification simpler
Verihubs, based in Jakarta, was formed in 2019 by Rick Firnando, a B2B business veteran, and Williem William, an AI researcher with a Ph.D. in computer vision from South Korea’s Inha University. The firm now has 46 customers, including big banks and fintech, and the creators claim that it will soon reach 100 customers. While the majority of Verihubs’ current clients are in the banking sector, the company’s technology may also be utilized in e-commerce, rental markets, and hotels.
Many of its clients were still manually authenticating consumers before implementing Verihubs, according to Firnando. Verihubs is an end-to-end verification solution, he says, since “integrating with many suppliers is painful for developers to do.” As a result, it allows clients to conduct KYC, provides phone number verification through WhatsApp or SMS, and validates customers’ financial data.
When end users first enter into a Verihubs-enabled app, they are requested to snap a selfie and then submit a photo of a government-issued photo ID. The Verihub AI-based system then examines the two pictures to determine if they match, as well as cross-referencing the ID with telecom credit ratings and Indonesian government databases, including criminal histories.
Verihubs supports two types of end-users: those with regular bank accounts and those who are “unbanked.” As it will be able to work with BCA to access its customers’ data, the startup’s recent investment from Central Capital Ventura will enable it to grow its offerings for people with bank accounts. To obtain transaction data for unbanked consumers, Firnando said Verihubs is collaborating with Payfazz, which allows clients to deposit money with local agents to use for online payments, and BukuWarung, accounting software for SMEs. In addition, the startup’s product pipeline involves the creation of its own credit scores based on data such as transactions and account balances. Verihubs is currently focused on Indonesia, with hopes to ultimately expand into other Southeast Asian regions.
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