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
Power player-turned-poet Pasquale Trozzolo’s new move: Write words worth a thousand pictures
Thirty-five years after starting his own network of strategic marketing firms, Pasquale Trozzolo teases that his longtime communications journey was just the first chapter ahead of what’s to come — as one of the boldest names in Kansas City’s print history takes on a title that he admits still feels a little strange: poet. The…
Tech takes active-shooter training beyond paper targets as deadly real-world threats rise
COLUMBIA, Missouri — A startup’s portable target system could transform the way law enforcement agencies train for active-shooter scenarios, said Kris Knutson, a former IT consultant propelled into the govtech market amid a rise in real-world threats. Shot Bot — patented by Knutson in 2019 — provides realistic, adaptable, and comprehensive training experiences, the Missouri…
‘Big Flour’ can’t recreate this stone-milled secret ingredient: the Kansas-grown artisan wheat in your favorite KC bakeries
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. NEW CAMBRIA, Kansas — Artisan flour sourced from a network of Kansas growers not only takes any batch of baking up a notch, said Ben Mantooth; it makes a better…
How a humble DIY upbringing sparked this streetwear designer’s minimalist aesthetic
Flaws are part of nature, says Clark Rooseveltte: Go forth and be creative (not normal) Clark Rooseveltte — already known across Kansas City as the man behind the mic (and the mixtape) — is inviting others into his world of creative living through Clvr World Goods and Supply, a lifestyle brand focused on streetwear and…