Lithuanian identity verification company Ondato has scored $2m in seed capital to fuel its continued European growth, which has been powered by Covid-19.
The pandemic has raised the demand for digital identity solutions, with industry stakeholders estimating that the market will grow to be worth $8.1bn by 2025.
Ondato also announced that it would move its headquarters to London on the back of the raise led by OTB Ventures and that it would look to expand into Germany, France and Spain in 2021.
“We see huge potential for Ondato in this vast market for user identity and compliance,” said Adam Niewinski, managing partner at OTB Ventures. “Many businesses from financial institutions, insurance companies, online retailers or car rental businesses – they all face the requirement in the digital economy to know your customers, meet compliance and combat fraud. Ondato is already a vastly international business and I look forward to seeing its global footprint expand further.”
Startup Wise Guys also contributed to Ondato’s seed capital raise, which the tech venture will use to expand across Europe and to further develop its products.
“I am thrilled to be expanding the Ondato business after our seed capital raise,” said Liudas Kanapienis, founder and CEO of Ondato. “The UK remains a business capital for Europe and we are excited to call London our new home – undeterred by Brexit.
“Amid the unprecedented global disruption of 2020, agile startups such as Ondato have rapidly grown to meet the new needs of an increasingly digitised economy. New consumer trends and business processes have been formed and we look forward to further growth in the year ahead with the backing and expertise of OTB Ventures.”
The news comes as the UK has officially left the EU four years after the 2016 referendum. Some FinTech and RegTech stakeholders fear Brexit will put the country’s tech ecosystem at a disadvantage as businesses must now cut through a huge amount of red tape to trade in Europe and to recruit skilled international professionals.
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