London-based Magic ID, a platform facilitating trust between businesses and individuals without prior acquaintance, has secured €350K in a pre-seed round of funding.
The investment was led by SFC Capital and Presto Ventures.
The round saw €175K investment from SFC Capital, €120K from Presto Ventures and €55K from undisclosed angels.
Milan Lupac, Partner at Presto Ventures says, “At Presto, we’re always excited to back startups that create solutions we would love to use ourselves – and Magic is no exception.”
“I personally remember a number of instances when I did not have my passport or some other information on me, which prevented me from completing a KYC process. With Magic, there would be no such issue.”
“We believe the need for reusable identity will only grow as more and more businesses require verification. Even services where anonymity has been the default for a long time, such as social networks, are slowly gravitating towards verifying the majority of their users.”
Capital utilisation
Magic ID simplifies the Know Your Customer (KYC) process for businesses, offering users perks.
The startup, which already has four Beta testers in the UK and two Enterprise Proof of Concepts in telecommunications and financial services, plans to use the funds to launch its Magic ID product suite in the UK and EU markets.
The funds will also support team expansion and ongoing research and development for the enhancement of their proprietary decentralised identity infrastructure.
Co-founder Mandaltsis says, “In Presto Ventures, we saw a partner that shares our conviction about an inclusive, privacy-first future.”
“This pre-seed funding round is more than a capital injection for our company, it is a strategic partnership among pioneers who want to build the next iteration of digital identity.”
“Connecting businesses and people who want to”
Founded in 2023 by Thanasis Mandaltsis and Aariffa Hajamaideen, Magic ID is a digital identity assistant linking businesses and individuals seeking mutual trust without requiring prior acquaintance.
Magic ID is a GDPR-compliant identity network designed to facilitate the exchange of identity verification credentials among organisations while adhering to data protection regulations.
The Magic Network consists of three main components:
- AI-powered identity verification tools capable of verifying over 2,500 global identity documents
- Secure Digital IDs that allow convenient mobile transactions without passwords or identity wallets, and
- Privacy-first marketing suite to help companies discover pre-verified customers and offer exclusive identity rewards with minimal exposure of sensitive information
The Magic ID Network ensures data security through cryptographic techniques, minimising exposure until transactions are completed.
Brief about the co-founders
The founding team, with a diverse background in scaleup experience and large enterprise technology leadership, came together at the Y Combinator Startup School.
Thanasis Mandaltsis, the CEO of Magic ID, boasts seven years of startup operational experience.
As an early employee of Onfido, he played a key role in delivering major enterprise sales contracts and led the design and delivery of Onfido’s Self-Sovereign Identity product, successfully tested in the Financial Conduct Authority sandbox in the UK in 2019.
Prior to co-founding Magic ID, Mandaltsis spearheaded decentralised identity projects in the enterprise blockchain domain.
Aariffa Hajamaideen is the CTO of Magic ID. She is a technology leader who aims to craft impactful products that foster a safe and inclusive digital environment.
Leading technology teams and delivering large-scale projects in data, analytics, and integration for the financial services industry, Hajamaideen left her role in financial services to pursue her passion for creating meaningful digital products, co-founding Magic in the process.
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