Singapore-based biometric cybersecurity firm bags $2.2m in pre-seed money

Keyless, a biometric authentication and identity management platform, raised US$2.2 million in a pre-seed round led by blockchain venture firm Gumi Cryptos Capital.

Ripple Labs, Blockchain Valley Ventures, and LuneX also participated in the round, which brought the startup’s total capital raised to US$2.5 million.

Photo credit: Frettie

Singapore-based Keyless provides an authentication system that combines biometric authentication methods with privacy-preserving distributed computation and zero-knowledge cryptography.

Its platform eliminates the need for businesses to centrally store and manage passwords, personal cryptographic keys, and any other authentication data – without skimping on security.

“Data breaches pose a serious threat to consumers and organizations alike. To mitigate this, Keyless does not store any biometric data on centralized servers,” said co-founder and chief technology officer Paolo Gasti.

Using the new funds, the cybersecurity startup plans to develop the world’s first distributed biometric authentication solution aimed at eliminating the need for passwords.

Prior to its pre-seed round, Keyless spent a total of six months in incubation at blockchain and cybersecurity-focused startup accelerators LongHash and Cylon.

The company also began beta testing and integrations for its first product – a desktop authentication platform – Keyless Authenticator. It claims that the platform is fully compliant with Cyber Hygiene regulations, which are due to come into effect in Singapore next year.

Gumi, a Japan-based mobile game publisher and developer, launched the US$30 million Gumi Cryptos fund in May 2018, which invests in promising blockchain and cryptocurrency companies across the globe. The venture fund also previously said that it will give its investees “unique access” to Japan’s market.

Since then, Gumi Cryptos has backed cryptocurrency companies such as OpenSea, Spacemesh, ZenLedger, Wificoin, and Evercoin.