UK’s tru.ID raises €3.45M as it exits stealth mode; here’s how it’s trying to replace passwords

London-based mobile authentication platform, tru.ID has exited its stealth phase and announced that it has raised £3M (approx €3.45M) in a fresh round of funding from investors including Episode 1, MMC Ventures, and NHN Ventures.

Pain point as per tru.ID

“The traditional methods don’t work in today’s mobile-first world, offering poor user experience and creating security weaknesses. The industry has been trying to replace passwords for years but has failed to find a universal solution. Now, the answer is here, combining the ubiquity of the mobile phone with the cryptographic security of the SIM card,” mentions the company in the press release.

Firstly, the company aims to help developers eliminate passwords and bring user authentication to the current generation. And secondly, it wants to replace the traditional methods of user authentication, such as email + password and SMS one-time-passwords.

What does tru.ID offer?

Paul McGuire, co-founder, and CEO of tru.ID, says “We now live in a mobile-first world, but we have been brainwashed into accepting a legacy approach to user identity on mobile. tru.ID aims to finally change that, by delivering user authentication that is mobile-native, frictionless, secure, and private. Mobile authentication the way it should be – fit for the 21st Century.”

tru.ID uses the cryptographic security of the SIM card to unlock a new way of doing business online. Unlike OTPs, which may be intercepted or compromised, tru.ID leverages the cryptographic security of the SIM card in a user’s mobile device. The SIM Card’s security is tamper-proof, and this check is verified against a user’s mobile network operator so that you can be sure of the mobile number identity.

The company makes this solution easy for developers by providing an API platform with mobile SDKs and tooling to support a development workflow from initial integration to deployment.

The company was founded by Eric Nadalin and Paul McGuire. Paul previously co-founded mBlox (acquired by Sinch) followed by Boku (AIM:BOKU). While Eric was the co-founder of iPin (acquired by Valista) and Nexmo (acquired by Vonage).

How is this solution beneficial?

The platform claims to help by offering a frictionless user on-boarding experience with strong security. Lower friction means fewer users abandon the sign-up process, which feeds through to higher revenues. Stronger security means safer users and less fraud, which lowers costs and improves brand reputation.

This user authentication has a wide range of use cases, from initial user on-boarding to subsequent login, and multi-factor authentication in higher-risk scenarios. It can be used in any sector which needs to authenticate users on a mobile app, including financial services, gig economy, e-commerce, digital health, dating, and messaging.

Use of the funds

The company’s product is currently live in the UK, Canada, USA, India, and Indonesia. And, the raised capital will help the company to further expand its geographic reach as well as in growth.