Editorial

Signicat to absorb Idfy

Norwegian ID partners buddying up in move they is another building block in the so-say “next $20bn industry” of ID verification as a service (McKinsey)

Posted 2 July 2019 by Gary Flood


Norwegian verified Digital Identity solutions player Signicat has swooped on fellow Norwegian secure identification and electronic signature solutions firm Idfy.

‘e808e370-a5e4-11e3-a06f-db34a9cd336b_piggy_bank_saving_money_pension’ by Securus Payments on Flickr

Founded in Bergen in 2012 and one of the fastest growing players within digital trust services in the Nordics – as well as famously self-described as a company ‘Built by Vikings in the rain,’ the deal sees Signicat acquiring 100% of all outstanding Idfy shares.

The move follows Signicat’s own April purchase by Nordic Capital: financial details of the buyout are not being released, but both companies see the move as significant in terms of further building out of what McKinsey has called “the next $20bn market” – Digital Identity verification-as-a-service.

In today’s digital society interactions between consumers and institutions are predominantly online and mobile-first, claim the pair, adding that, “Trust is at a premium, and Digital Identity is the solution.”

Idfy has more than 300 clients, with a presence in fintech and the real estate industry. Its platform allows companies and institutions to achieve efficient and compliant business processes across a wide range of use cases and security levels. A key driver behind Idfy’s rapid growth has been providing API-based “building blocks” for developers to add secure authentication, signing and sealing to web and mobile applications.

Commenting on the news, for Gunnar Nordseth, Signicat CEO, “With the acquisition of Idfy, we strengthen our ability to execute faster and deliver better Digital Identity solutions to the market.

“Idfy has a strong, driven team of digital identity experts that we look forward to welcoming into Signicat [and] together we can continue in our goal of creating the strongest digital identity solution on the market.”

“With Nordic Capital as lead investor, we will have access to unparalleled competence within operational improvement and transformative growth,” added Idfy CEO, Stein Olav Davidsen.