Smile ID is the leading provider of identity verification, user onboarding and real-time digital KYC solutions in Africa — infrastructure that has become foundational to the continent’s digital economy. Founded in 2017 by Mark Straub and William Bares, the company emerged from a simple observation: in a continent where identity systems are fragmented, databases hard to access and devices often basic, verifying a customer meant kiosks, agents, photographs and paperwork — making user acquisition slow and expensive for every financial institution. Smile ID set out to make KYC faster, more reliable and widely accessible using biometrics, computer vision and direct connections to national ID databases.

Today Smile ID is a category leader, having performed over 250 million KYC checks with AI models purpose-built for African faces, IDs and data sources, achieving 99.8% accuracy, and supporting 230+ document and data types with integration options for every device and operating system combination in Africa. Its client base includes Flutterwave, Uber, Binance, OPay, Paystack and Zenith Bank, and its 2023 acquisition of Appruve’s parent company expanded its coverage to over a billion Africans, the African diaspora and 100 million African businesses, adding mobile money, data and anti-fraud checks. In 2024 it partnered with Mastercard to scale merchant KYC across 50+ African countries. The company has raised over $31 million across four rounds — including a $20 million Series B co-led by Costanoa Ventures and Norrsken22 — from investors including Khosla Impact, Future Africa, CRE Venture Capital, PTB Ventures, 500 Startups, Commerce Ventures and Courtside Ventures. Its team spans ten countries and eight time zones. CEO Mark Straub is a familiar face at Africa Tech Summit, having spent a decade as a venture investor backing companies including Branch, Kopo Kopo and Flutterwave before founding Smile ID.