The recent Equifax hack is yet another reminder that major corporations are still leaving themselves susceptible to attacks.
There are countless cybersecurity startups looking to fix this problem, but HYPR believes its decentralization approach is key. Its authentication technology secures traditional passwords and also biometrics like fingerprints, faces and voices.
The New York-based startup is announcing that it raised an $8 million Series A funding round led by RRE Ventures. Existing investors RTP Ventures, Boldstart Ventures and Mesh Ventures also participated.
George Avetisov, CEO of HYPR, said that its clients include Fortune 500 companies across a variety of sectors, ranging from automotive businesses to credit card networks. He says a lot of its 25 million users work at financial institutions. HYPR plans to integrate its technology into smart homes, ATMs and connected cars.
“Equifax is a perfect example of what happens when you centralize a lot of sensitive data,” said Avetisov. HYPR ensures that its users’ personal credentials always remain in their possession and that nothing is sent to any third parties. He says that HYPR’s creating a system that would “force the hackers to have to go device to device to device…rather than attacking one enterprise and millions of people in one shot.”
Jim Robinson IV, general partner at RRE Ventures, said that he invested and is taking a board seat because he believes “the world is moving towards biometrics in lieu of typical type passwords.” He said that he’d been asking around and found out a lot of people he knew were already using HYPR.
Previously, Avetisov worked in e-commerce. He said he was inspired by the idea that biometrics could end fraud someday.
