Trua is a technology company that provides privacy-preserving reusable identity and risk-screening solutions that assure trust and safety in digital environments, sharing economy, employment, and workforce background screening. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Trua CEO Raj Ananthanpillai to learn more about the company.
Raj Ananthanpillai’s Background
Ananthanpillai is a passionate entrepreneur and visionary leader with many years of experience building businesses and investing in the future of technological innovation. And
Before Trua, Ananthanpillai spent 13 years as the CEO and majority shareholder of InfoZen, a high-end Risk Management services company, successfully sold to a publicly traded company in 2017. Before that, he served as the Chief Strategy Officer of ePlus, a business process automation and transformative technology solutions company. Ananthanpillai was also the founder and CEO of NetBalance, a venture capital-backed multimillion-dollar enterprise software company, which was also successfully sold. And Ananthanpillai worked at AT&T for many years in various technical and management capacities. Plus, Ananthanpillai has numerous patents and has authored two books.
Formation Of Trua
How did the idea for the company come together? Ananthanpillai said:
“Several years ago, there was a very large company data breach that made news headlines and was detrimental to individuals whose personal information was leaked. The incident got me thinking: why do individuals have to share their personally identifiable information in the first place? I thought to myself, why not mask individuals’ personal information while businesses and organizations can still verify individuals’ identity or determine suitability.”
“In a world of 24/7 connectivity, it’s time for consumers to really think about how they’re putting themselves at risk by allowing their sensitive data to float around the digital space and the lasting effects of the consequences. When your personal information gets into the wrong hands, it can be detrimental to your finances, career, and reputation.”
“After the data breach, I felt that much could be solved with a method to prove trust and credibility without exposing PII and putting your sensitive data at risk. Having been involved in developing the original TSA Pre-check program, the idea of a reusable digital verified credential came to me, and I am excited to see it come to life and getting adopted.”
Company Impact
How do you believe Trua might change the world? Ananthanpillai shared:
“Individuals must repetitively assert their identity for every new service provider or transaction, requiring organizations to collect and store personal information that are subject to wrongful claims, litigation, and breaches costing $Billions. With the increase in online fraud, consumers are subjected to different identity verification methods and systems with different personal data requirements, based on channels and trust levels required by organizations.”
“Trua is the first-of-a-kind reusable digital verified identity solution that provides ‘all-in-one’ identity proofing, fraud detection, authentication, and screening. We are disrupting the archaic method of verifying a person’s identity and background in order to adjust to the realities of the new digital landscape of our lives. Millions of people are renting vacation homes, hiring caregivers and home services, ordering cars through rideshare, and meeting people from dating apps without confidently knowing if these individuals are safe and trustworthy. It’s time that we drive a societal change in terms of safety, security, and personal responsibility, and provide a reusable and portable verified digital credential that preserves the privacy of individuals while helping organizations to easily and quickly verify individuals’ identity and background as the case maybe.”
“This approach will fundamentally and drastically minimize data breaches because organizations don’t have to collect and store personal information to begin with.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have you faced in building the company? Ananthanpillai acknowledged:
“Trua is an early-stage company, and its leadership is experienced to think ahead of potential issues that come our way. As an example, given that Trua will be dealing with people’s personal data and its use in key decisions to provide digital access, employment, government benefits, etc., we anticipated potential headwinds from regulators.”
“Instead of waiting for potential regulatory issues to arise, we briefed them about our product vision and roadmap before we launched the company. Surprisingly, the regulators were very much in sync with our vision about providing consumers the ability to verify their own data before any third party could make decisions about them all the while preserving the privacy of consumers. This was a good outcome for us to charge ahead. Our paradigm-shifting approach to verifying consumer data requires some awareness to both organizations and individuals. It is like enabling “democracy” in a country that has been under dictatorship.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Ananthanpillai explained:
“Trua provides a first-of-a-kind reusable verified digital credential solution that assures trust and safety in the digital environment, sharing economy, and background screening. With Trua, businesses and organizations can onboard customers seamlessly and authenticate them for ongoing access without repeatedly requiring personal information, which enhances trust and confidence to both parties.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Ananthanpillai cited:
“We have made significant strides since we launched our first product in mid-2022. We have established a strategic reseller partnership with Thomson Reuters (TR)(with dedicated BDRs and 70+ field sales reps, part of their sales quota, co-branded marketing, revenue share); 25+ customers acquired and strategic conversations with large financial institutions and marketplace platforms.”
Funding
After asking Ananthanpillai about the company’s funding, he revealed:
“Founders thus far have invested nearly $11 million. With sales traction and a strategic reseller partnership with Thomson Reuters, Trua is exploring bringing in strategic/Financial partners to scale and grow the company.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Ananthanpillai assessed:
“The Total Addressable Market (TAM) is very big. However, Trua’s initial addressable market will be focused on the $32.8 billion Reusable Digital Identity, over 60 million gig workers via platforms, and over $3.5 billion background check market. Some of the major market segments and use-cases: Account opening, KYC, Digital commerce; Online Pharmacies, Alcohol, Gaming, Gambling, Telehealth, Traveling Nurses, and Dating Platforms; Pre-employment workforce background screening.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Ananthanpillai affirmed:
“Currently, the identity verification and screening market is very fragmented. Vendors are in one of the following categories – Identity proofing (Biometric), Identity affirmation (Biographic), digital wallets, and background screening. Trua combines these into an “all-in-one” solution and, more importantly, is portable and reusable for any credential verification purpose or methods.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Ananthanpillai pointed out:
“Our goal is to make Trua’s reusable verified digital credential ubiquitous and in the hands of everyone, akin to someone carrying a government-issued ID so no one is required to provide their personal information for any identity or any credential verification or background check. This”
How Will Trua Be Successful? Ananthanpillai concluded:
“Trua is led by a proven founder and CEO with successful exits. Trua has five patents, proprietary scoring algorithms and technology, deep industry knowledge and experience (developers of TSA-Precheck), seamless fit for the identity-based digital interactions requiring repeated ID verification and screening. Currently, Trua is the only “all-in-one” solution in the market that combines identity proofing, authentication, smart wallet, and background screening in one product.”
