Duna, a business identity platform founded by two Stripe veterans, raised $12.1 million.
The mentioned startup, which is based in the Netherlands, announced the seed funding on Tuesday, May 6. In the relevant context, it was separately noted that Duna is interested in obtaining new funding, as it is currently working on turning its product into a shareable business identity network.
Duco van Lanschot, Duna’s founder, stated that identity remains one of the biggest unresolved issues of the Internet. In this context, he mentioned that in 1993, The New Yorker published an iconic cartoon featuring two dogs. The plot of this cartoon is that one of the animals is sitting at a computer and telling the other that no one on the Internet knows what a dog is typing on the keyboard and looking at the monitor. According to Duco van Lanschot, little has changed since then. He stated that identity remains tied to legacy systems resulting in billions lost to fraud, friction, and fines. According to him, Duna was built to fix that.
David Schreiber, another founder, stated that at a time when artificial intelligence makes it possible to quickly generate images and documents, business identity remains stuck in the era of spreadsheets. It was also noted that Duna helps businesses carry out historically paper-heavy compliance analysis without manual work. David Schreiber stated that the startup is building a future where businesses do have digital passports that will allow them to identify themselves instantly, securely, and universally.
In a press release published by Duna, it was noted that the goal of the startup is to make business identification as simple as two clicks. It was also highlighted that the product developed by the brand allowed customers to boost their onboarding conversion by around 38% within six months.
Zak Lambert, vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Plaid, which is working with Duna, said that business onboarding used to be a cost center for this company. Now, according to him, this is the revenue driver. He stated that this change occurred thanks to Dana’s intuitive onboarding flows, compliance automation, and high-end UX.
Duna announced the investment at a time when the fintech industry is facing the need to strengthen fraud prevention and identity verification measures to protect its operations and its customers. The problem of fraud is becoming more and more urgent for the mentioned industry. The results of special studies show that last year in the United States, financial institutions’ losses from crimes of the mentioned category increased by 65%, averaging $3.8 million. In the context of this problem, the most alarming circumstance is the complication of fraudster algorithms. For the mentioned reason, criminal activity is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate transactions.
Identity-related suspicious activity accounts for more than 40% of all suspicious banking activity, totaling $212 billion in 2021. At the same time, verification circumvention is the most reported type of fraud. The growth of identity-based fraud, a kind of platform for which consists of dark web data and easily accessible artificial intelligence tools, generates significant risk for digital-first entities.
It is worth noting separately that the intensive development of machine intelligence in general has become a factor in the actualization of the issue of cybersecurity. Scammers use artificial intelligence tools as part of their activities. These criminals generate deepfakes by leveraging AI. In most cases, these actions are aimed at stealing the victims’ money under one realistic pretext or another. For example, a video generated by artificial intelligence, which involves a kind of digital copy of a real person, can force the affected party to transfer funds to a bank account without a doubt. In this case, the victim believes that he is helping relatives and friends who find themself in a difficult life situation or is fulfilling the instructions of the boss. Cybercriminals also use artificial intelligence for phishing. As part of this practice, AI automates the mass mailing of fraudulent messages, making them more personalized and convincing. One of the tools for countering such virtual threats is the personal awareness of users. For example, an Internet search query such as how to know if my camera is hacked will allow anyone to get information about signs of unauthorized access to the device. Digital literacy is an effective tool for countering cybercrime. At the same time, this knowledge should be updated periodically. This circumstance is because fraudsters, as part of their activities, strive to use advanced technologies that are actually constantly evolving. It is worth noting that artificial intelligence is also a tool to counter AI-powered fraud. For example, machine intelligence-based tools, analyzing the specifics of certain types of activity in the virtual space, can identify anomalies and warn of potential danger before the crime is committed.
