EyeVerify sells to Alibaba affiliate for more than $100M
September 13, 2016 | Bobby Burch
In what represents one of the metro’s most notable exits in the last decade, Kansas City-based startup EyeVerify announced Tuesday that it has been acquired.
Ant Financial — the payments affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding — purchased EyeVerify for more than $100 million, according to an unnamed local source familiar with the deal.
Ant Financial started using EyeVerify’s biometric security tool in early 2016. Valued at about $60 billion, Ant Financial boasts about 450 million customers, offering services such as online payments, peer-to-peer lending, wealth management and more, Bloomberg reports.
Led by CEO Toby Rush, EyeVerify created the “EyePrint ID,” which transforms a selfie of a user’s eye into a biometric security key. It’s used by millions of people around the world to access mobile banking or other secured information.
Founded in 2012, EyeVerify has 35 staffers, has raised $13 million to date and was named a Top 10 Startup to Watch in 2016 by Startland News.
Now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ant Financial Services Group, EyeVerify plans to stay in Kansas City after the deal, according to the firm. Current employees and the executive management team will also remain with the firm.
The exit is an unequivocal win for Kansas City. Not only will founding team members likely see a nice payout, but so too will EyeVerify’s local investors. Local investors in EyeVerify include Mid-America Angels, Women’s Capital Connection, Think Big Partners, Flyover Capital, Sprint and other private investors.
“Mid-America Angels and the Women’s Capital Connection are proud to have identified EyeVerify as a promising business opportunity and participated in this deal from its earliest stages,” a spokeswoman with MAA said. “We congratulate Toby and his team on years of hard work, and look forward to celebrating this timely victory for Kansas City during Techweek.”
Check back in later for more on this breaking story.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC’s ‘Horn Doctor’ handcrafts jazz preservation, keeping soul, tradition alive on Vine Street
Across the historic intersection at Kansas City’s 12th and Vine streets, B.A.C. Musical Instruments operates as one of the few remaining American factories handcrafting professional brass instruments. “This is where all the musicians would hang out back in the day,” said founder Mike “Horn Doctor” Corrigan, gesturing toward the Paseo sunken garden beside his shop.…
Autotech startup revs after patent stall; signature tech removes emissions, waste from diesel logistics
Fresh fuel is pumping into NORDEF after the Kansas City autotech company finally received patent approval for its signature product, co-founder William Walls said, pushing the pedal on its mission to disrupt the automotive fluid industry. Four years after applying for a provisional patent for its technology to produce diesel exhaust fluid on-demand — and…
rOOTS KC grows into third location, planting shop in River Market ahead of World Cup
Initially setting its roots as a pop-up plant shop in 2020, Dee Ferguson’s leafy business has grown to three Kansas City locations. The secret is in the soil, she said, describing a strategy for cultivating customers through free, evergreen plant care support and “community-rooted spirit.” [pullquote] The name rOOTS comes from Dee Ferguson’s surname: Oots.…
Summer funding pushes CarePilot to team hires, AI accolades, healthtech product launch
Fresh off its summer capital infusion, a Kansas City-built AI startup that helps doctors focus on patients instead of administrative tasks is earning industry recognition and dropping another new product, said Joseph Tutera, sharing credit for the milestones with behind-the-scenes talent. “We have a young team and they don’t have the encumbrance of a prior…