Tigard identity management startup Cozera raised a round of funding that includes several local fintech investors as well as strategic and institutional investors.
According to regulatory filings, the company raised $850,000 of a $1 million round. However, founder and CEO Abrar Ahmed declined to disclose if the round included more than was reported.
Cozera has developed a product called ID-go, which is essentially like TSA Pre-Check for verifying your identity with a bank or credit union. Participating financial institutions have customers register with ID-go using biometric data already collected by smartphones for identity use. When a customer contacts an institution their identity is seamlessly verified using ID-go.
“User experience is top of mind for financial institutions. They want consistent experience, where (customers) feel they are privileged versus (institutions) treating them like bad people,” said Ahmed.
The team has focused the product on three core areas: persistent data to verify identity so people don’t have to constantly re-enter data; privacy and data compliance; and portability, so that identity can be verified across devices.
Cozera doesn’t collect the biometric data itself and works in the authentication space, which is after someone has opened a new account with an institution.
“Companies like Apple and Google invested money in capturing and using biometrics,” for identity verification to unlock phones, said Cozera chief marketing officer Steve Karakas. “We are using what they have done, this product is built on using phones for verification.”
The startup has a team of 10. Ahmed spent 10 years at identity and access management company SureID. Cozera has rolled its product out to customers and is active with multiple credit unions including Advantis Credit Union and Unitus Community Credit Union. It is also used by payment company Vesta.
It is now developing a sales pipeline and will likely go out for another round early next year, said Ahmed. The company also sees room for its product in other markets like insurance and health care.
Two of the investors named on the regulatory filing are familiar in the local fintech scene. One is Doug Fieldhouse, founder of Vesta and one of the region’s fintech veterans that has helped mentor and invest in the next generation of companies. The other is Trevor Dryer, founder and CEO of lending software maker Mirador, which sold to CUNA Mutual Group in 2018.
Ahmed said the majority of his investors, so far, are local. Last year, the company was named an early stage winner in the Bend Venture Conference. It was also part of the Beaverton Startup Challenge.
“Portland has really good fintech,” said Ahmed, pointing to fellow startups Sila and Bumped as well as bigger companies like Vesta. “We do have the talent here. We have found good talent locally. Oregon is an up-and-coming place and we should make it a great place for fintech startups.”
