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
Recreational golf can be lonely without community; this Olathe-built app brings players together on the green
He set out to create an all-encompassing, tech-enabled golf platform that would make his favorite sport more fun, accessible, convenient, and transparent — but Somanath Chilukuri already knew the hazards of the crowded course ahead of him. “Today there is so much app overload on people,” said Chilukuri, an Olathe IT professional and the founder…
$2M federal grant boosts K-State efforts to expand region’s digital manufacturing capabilities
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. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. MANHATTAN,…
Yardball Kickstarter ends with six-figure funding (and rapid hiring for production)
When Sandlot Goods took to Kickstarter to crowdfund what it called “the perfect ball for the game of catch,” the world listened. More than 2,200 backers from across the globe pledged funds to secure their own Yardball — lighter than a baseball and sewn by hand with soft, premium leather. “We are absolutely thrilled with…
Allyship means mistakes plus action: New project draws parallels between innovation, DEIB
It’s time for coworkers to move beyond best intentions, said Ghadeer Garcia and Mark Logan, announcing the launch of a new project aimed at pushing allies in the workplace to action. The co-founders created the Ally Lab project through Idealect, an equity-centered social innovation company in Kansas City. The Ally Lab will offer knowledge and…