Digital Identity Network Company ID.me Raises $100 Million

By Noah Long • Sep 15, 2021
  • Secure digital identity network ID.me has raised $100 million. These are the details.

ID.me – a secure digital identity network with 60 million members — announced recently it has secured $100 million in debt financing from funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC and $20 million in revolving credit. This funding round follows the company’s Series C round in March, securing $100 million in funding at a $1.5 billion valuation. 

The new funding round will support ID.me’s rapid growth along with the development of its secure digital identity network for all consumers. In the past year, ID.me has expanded or entered into new partnerships with 6 federal agencies and 27 states. 

The has grown its commercial partnerships to more than 500 with travel and hospitality revenue climbing 420%. And ID.me identity and group verification has enabled millions of people to gain access to everything from services like pandemic-related unemployment benefits to prescription medications and travel discounts.

The company has quickly gained additional momentum, including:

1.) Expanding the ID.me digital wallet by launching a COVID Vaccine ID verification solution. And ID.me’s Vaccine ID offers flexible verification options and securely digitized vaccine records for people to easily share with others as they choose.

2.) Adding almost 1,300 new employees since January 2021 and opening an office in Tampa, Florida, to support 500 team members.

3.) Naming three new executives:

a.) Rajat Bahri as Chief Financial Officer, formerly the Chief Financial Officer of Wish, Jasper and Trimble.

b.) Kevin Lyons as Chief People Officer, formerly the Chief People Officer of Brinks Home Security.

c.) Recognized authentication expert Alexei Czeskis as VP of Engineering (formerly an engineering leader for Google’s account security, authentication, and recovery team).

4.) Winning two blanket purchase agreements with government agencies worth over $1 billion each.

Today, more than 100,000 people across the U.S. are joining ID.me every day to secure and control their own digital identity and gain secure access to benefits and services. And in partnership with the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), ID.me saved the agency $40 billion in payouts on fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims.

KEY QUOTES:

“One of our missions for the past year has been to help states get individuals the benefits they deserve while battling massive identity fraud. Now, with this new financing, we can double down on our corporate vision to solve every digital citizen’s biggest pain point — the multiple password problem. We’re passionate about enabling people to have one trusted login that securely verifies their identity, so they don’t have to create a new password for every website they visit. Not only are we streamlining an inefficient process, but we’re also giving individuals full control of their personal data, which is currently scooped up by data brokers. In short, we’re creating the identity layer of the internet.”

— Blake Hall, founder and CEO of ID.me

“ID.me is a leader in the business of trust, and Blake Hall is a pioneer in the trusted identity market. We’re big believers in the company’s vision, leadership, and execution, which are driven by Blake’s passion to use technology for good. We’re excited to back Blake and ID.me as they continue to build the identity layer of the internet.”

— Andy Frank, Managing Director of Fortress