Smile ID provides the best Identity Verification, User Onboarding, and real-time Digital KYC solutions in Africa.
Smile ID provides the best Identity Verification, User Onboarding, and real-time Digital KYC solutions in Africa.
What they do: Digital identity verification, biometric KYC, AML/fraud screening for African markets
Founded: 2017
Founders / CEO: Mark Straub and William Bares; Mark Straub is CEO
Employees: 125
Recent funding: $20M Series B (Feb 2023); total funding reported ≈ $31.1M
Certifications / claims: ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (claimed)
Identity verification and digital KYC/AML for African markets
2017
Identity verification / RegTech
$20,000,000
Additional participants included Commerce Ventures, Courtside Ventures, Two Culture Capital, Latitude and returning investors such as Valuestream Ventures, Intercept Ventures and Future Africa.
Listed as a corporate funding round with Mastercard as lead investor on public funding summaries.
Smile ID is Africa's leading digital identity verification and Know Your Customer (KYC) provider. Founded to address the unique challenges faced by companies onboarding users in Africa, we have developed proprietary machine learning algorithms and a technology platform that accommodates all skin tones, entry-level devices, and low bandwidth environments.
We pride ourselves on balancing the prevention of fraudulent transactions with reducing onboarding friction, having performed over 100 million KYC checks to date. Our clients include notable companies such as Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Flutterwave, and Binance.
With a diverse team spanning 4 offices and 7 countries, we are rapidly growing, having completed more jobs in 2023 than in the combined years of 2016-2022. Backed by leading global investors, we are committed to building innovations that protect individuals and foster trust in the digital economy in Africa.
Job Title: Senior Software Engineer, AI/ML
Location: Remote (Canada, San Francisco, London)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Salary: $160k – $210k
Experience Required: 5 years