Onfido, a digital identity verification tech firm, has been acquired by Entrust Corp, a global leader in trusted payments, identity, and data security. As we previously revealed in February, negotiations were underway for Onfido to be acquired by Entrust for an amount exceeding $400m. While the final purchase price has not been disclosed, this acquisition represents the highest value return on investment for a student-led start-up for the University of Oxford. The company has a remarkable history, having been one of the initial entrants into Oxford University Innovation’s Incubator in 2012, an entrepreneurship programme that helped to nurture technology developed by student founders Husayn Kassai, Eamon Jubbawy, and Ruhul Amin.
The team went on to receive £20,000 in early phase funding through the Entrepreneurship Centre’s Oxford Seed Fund while pursuing their studies at Saïd Business School in 2013. This sale represents an 80-fold return on the Oxford Seed Fund initial investment. The company secured multiple high-profile investors over the last decade, including the University of Oxford, M12 (formerly Microsoft Ventures), SBI Investment, Salesforce’s venture capital arm, and private equity groups Bain Capital and TPG Growth. Onfido now processes more than 200m identity checks safely with over 2,500 document types and passports from 195 nations.
One of the original co-founders, Husayn Kassai, stated his appreciation for Oxford University’s support during Onfido’s incubation phase. Kassai believes that Onfido’s exit has enabled the academic institution to provide extensive support to a new generation of entrepreneurs, which will be vital in cultivating our world-class innovation ecosystem in Oxford. Todd Wilkinson, Entrust Corp.’s President and Chief Executive Officer, expressed enthusiasm and pride at this acquisition, recognizing the significance of Onfido’s acquisitions for the UK’s vibrant environment for tech growth.
Professor Chas Bountra, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Oxford and Mairi Gibbs, CEO of Oxford University Innovation praised Onfido’s phenomenal success in evolving from a student startup to a 500-strong team with more than £140m of revenue and worldwide customers. Gibbs affirmed that their return on investment will be reinvested in our Incubator programme to provide more opportunities for our student and staff entrepreneurs to train, collaborate, and create companies that deliver game-changing technology. Onfido has the world’s best-in-class ID verification team, capabilities, and tech stack, and it’s thanks to entrepreneurial schemes like this one from Oxford University Innovation that the founders were able to get their start.