This Italian startup can turn any smartphone into a secure key for user authentication; secures €810K funding

ToothPic is an Italian startup dedicated to improving the security and usability of authentication processes. It has announced the closing of the second round of funding for €810K targeted at the growth of its multi-factor authentication solution.

€810K funding for its growth

ToothPic is a university spin-off of Politecnico di Torino and is incubated by I3P, the university Incubator for innovative companies. This investment was granted by Club degli Investitori​ and Vertis Venture 3 Tech Transfer Fund (VV3TT). Club degli Investitori is one of the main networks of Italian Business Angels with the support of KPMG Associated Law Firm and through Simon Fiduciaria​ of the Ersel Group. This investment was the result of the close collaboration between Club degli Investitori and I3P.

VV3TT is the first Venture Capital fund launched in Italy entirely dedicated to Technology Transfer. It is managed by Vertis SGR SpA with Venture Factory srl as an exclusive advisory company. “VV3TT is supported by EIF through InnovFin Equity, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help support financing and implementing productive investments in the European Union and to ensure increased access to financing,” according to the press release issued by the company.

“The resources guaranteed by this round of funding will help ToothPic to grow in the target market of cybersecurity, where Italian and European technologies shall have a more important role. I would like to thank our new partners of Club degli Investitori, the VV3TT fund which keeps believing in ToothPic and Business Factory​ which has supported us in the strategic and operational phase of this important operation,” says Giulio Coluccia, CEO and Founder of ToothPic.

According to Piero Bergamini and Biagio Franco of the Club degli Investitori, “The commercial approach, which is proving to be effective, was to identify and build partnerships with System Integrators to break into the market. This approach is allowing the development of joint sector-specific offers capable of supplying the customer with turnkey solutions. The implementation-oriented design refinements are employed obeying to project control, quality control and system start-up methodologies used by leading companies operating in the field of cybersecurity at an international scale.”

Proprietary technology for digital security

ToothPic was founded by a team of four professors and researchers from the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications with years of experience in the fields of camera identification, security and forensic analysis. It has invented, designed, developed and patented a solution to turn every smartphone into a secure key for online authentication. The technology is currently protected by 4 patents.

According to the company, its proprietary technology leverages the unclonable manufacturing imperfections of the photographic sensor, which makes every device distinct. Its technology protects the cryptographic keys that are used to detect a device on the web with the use of encryptions with invisible imperfections. Thereby, the company protects the user credentials from malware and claims to ensure that the same is never exposed.

Moreover, the system is extremely flexible, easy to integrate and use. Via a simple click on their smartphone, users can activate the verification process and obtain a high level of security at each authentication, claims the company.

Notably, ToothPic’s technology was developed for both Android and iOS platforms. It protects credentials that are widely used in commercial systems. “In today’s world digital security and the need to protect assets with cutting-edge technology have become a fundamental priority. The multiple applications and use cases of ToothPic represent a new opportunity for Corporates, Banks and Insurance players to increase security and usability of their systems,” mentions the startup.