- Verified identity platform company Truework recently announced that it raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital
Truework — the verified identity platform company founded by COO Ethan Winchell, CEO Ryan Sandler, and CTO Victor Kabdebon — gives consumers control over their personal and professional information. And the company recently announced that it raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital. Stanford University and existing investors including Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Founder Collective also participated in this round. Plus Truework also announced that its network that it grew to more than one million users in just one year.
During major transactions ranging from buying a home to applying for a job, banks and other institutions must verify private and sensitive data about consumers. And while many of these activities have shifted to take place online, the process of verifying identity remains stuck in the past as it is plagued by a lack of consumer transparency and accuracy. Starting with employment and income data, Truework secures sensitive identity information, providing details only with consumers’ explicit consent while automating manual workflows for HR departments, banks, and other institutions.
“We are working to fundamentally change the data economy, in which credit bureaus continue to squeeze profits by abusing the privacy of consumers,” said Sandler. “When third parties receive access to private data, it is often a complete black box for individuals. Truework is bringing these processes front and center, putting more control into the hands of the consumer.”
Truework launched in April 2018 and the company built a platform for employers to integrate with HR and payroll systems to automatically process employment and income requests. And employees are able to approve or deny each request in real time, allowing banks and other institutions to access information without slowing down the application process.
Now Truework’s network is comprised of hundreds of employers including The College Board, Oscar Health, InVision, and Tuft & Needle. And the company serves over 3,000 financial institutions and has verified income data on more than $2 billion of home loans.
“Identity is vital to the health of the sharing economy and other online services, but it is completely broken today. Truework is building the internet’s new identity layer that will bring security and speed to many different transactions. The success they have had in just over a year shows the incredible demand for innovation and privacy in this very outdated space,” added Sequoia Capital partner Alfred Lin — who is joining Truework’s board and also sits on the board of Airbnb, Doordash and others.
This new round of funding will be used for scaling the product and engineering teams and expand the scope of its identity platform for consumer and enterprise users.
“It’s hard to believe that in 2019 consumers cannot instantly go through every step of the mortgage qualification process online. Truework is solving the final missing piece by letting lenders quickly verify employment, income and other identity data,” explained Founders Fund partner Keith Rabois — who led Truework’s seed round while at Khosla Ventures.
