QC·VENTURES: SignD receives €1 million growth capital from international primeCROWD investors

“This new capital enables us to take a leap in product development and strengthen our international sales and marketing efforts, as well as grow our team”, said Bernhard Reiterer, Founder and CEO of SignD Identity GmbH. The group of investors comprises key members of the SignD team, well-known names such as Fritz Schweiger (Q·ADVISERS), Felix Famira (former Jumio investor), Toni Moser, as well as several international partners eager to support SignD with their expert knowledge and extensive network.
Fritz Schweiger, Austrian entrepreneur and investor said: “I am convinced that SignD’s solutions have hit the market at exactly the right time. Companies are now actively seeking solutions to digitize their onboarding processes – and SignD enables them to do so without lengthy and costly IT projects.”

Digital proof-of-identity
Increasing digitization, particularly during the Covid-19 lockdown, is shifting a large share of commercial activity and processes to the internet. Often an official proof-of-identity is a pre-requisite for doing business online, and there are strict regulatory standards for banking or telecommunication businesses. In addition, service providers and their customers have a legitimate need to know the identity of their counterparts. “Our investors are aware of the rapid increase in digitization, fostering their interest in SignD”, explained Martin Bechter, COO of primeCROWD. “Our network also invests in times of crisis. With Covid-19, we were quick to identify business models that stand to benefit from this increased digitization. As a potential crisis winner, SignD convinced our investors from the start”.

Current KYC methods are often awkward and frustrating for users and therefore lead to high bounce rates. In addition to a poor customer experience this can undermine significant marketing investment. With its seamless and compliant onboarding solution, SignD closes a gap in the digital onboarding process. The exclusive use of best-in-class technology, with full regulatory alignment, achieves superior conversion rates, all via a customer’s smartphone. “SignD offers a much sought-after KYC platform for businesses which enable them to onboard customers fast and fully compliant with all relevant regulations”, added Felix Famira, entrepreneur and investor. “What previously had to be conducted via a complicated manual combination of many different systems can now be implemented with a simple, aggregated, seamless solution from SignD”.

SignD
SignD is a one-stop shop solution for consumer enrolment. It covers the whole KYC and onboarding process, from personal identification, address validation, to additional checks such as anti-money laundering (AML) or Politically Exposed Persons (PEP). Other services, including Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) will be launched soon. SignD’s solution is suitable for all instances where the provision of official proof-of-identity by the user is necessary for the use of digital products and services. Typical applications include bank account opening, concluding a telephone contract, and registration on a booking or gaming platform. SignD enables proof of identity for over 200 countries and regions based on more than 7000 official documents. https://signd.id/

primeCROWD
As a large start-up investor network in the DACH region, primeCROWD actively links exciting start-ups with over 1,600 investors and Business Aangels, incubators, accelerators, and venture capital funds. The company acts as an interface between start-ups and lenders by arranging equity investments for early-stage and growth-phase funding. primeCROWD accompanies start-ups through the entire investment process and gives private individuals easy access to a still closed asset class. https://prime-crowd.com/en

Captions (©photo credit: DeBond)
Investment Signing: From left, Lisandro Aguilar (COO SignD), Florian Übelacker (CCO primeCROWD), Martin Bechter (COO primeCROWD), Bernhard Reiterer (Founder & CEO SignD), Dieter Kindl (CCO SignD)