VIDA Pockets Pre-Series A Funding, Focuses on Expanding the Digital Identity Ecosystem

VIDA, an identity verification solution developer platform, electronic signature, and digital credential announced the acquisition of pre-series A funding from investors led by Jungle Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures and Monk's Hill Ventures. No mention of the amount of funds given.

With this fresh fund, the company will focus on recruiting, technology development, and marketing; as well as expanding its presence in the sector fintech, banking, insurance, and healthcare. Currently, VIDA technology has been used by startups and technology companies such as Gojek, Grab, Magic, Fast, Trevo, LINE, to HappyFresh.

"We believe that partnerships are key to enhancing and empowering the ecosystem, as well as building collaborations to support the company's growth in the resilience of a trusted network," said Founder & Executive Chairman LIFE Niki Luhur.

Meanwhile, Alpha JWC Ventures Co-Founder & General Partner, Jefrey Joe, said, "VIDA offers cutting-edge solutions that will play an important role in the growth of Southeast Asia's digital economy. "We have seen how similar solutions are part of everyday life in the US and European markets, but not as much in Indonesia where there is no dominant player in the sector."

Registered with authority

Founded in 2018 by Niki Luhur, Sati Rasuanto, and Gajendran Kandasamy, VIDA is the first Electronic Certificate Provider (PSrE) in Indonesia to obtain WebTrust certification and is listed on the Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL). In addition they have achieved ISO 27001 certification. So VIDA's digital signature is recognizable in more than 40 countries.

Currently VIDA is also registered as the organizer of the OJK Digital Financial Innovation (IKD) in the e-KYC cluster. In addition, they are now registered and under the control of the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia as a PSrE or Certification Authority (CA).

"Identity verification underlies every digital transaction. We leverage our expertise in cybersecurity to build products that fundamentally change the user experience across platforms and digital products. As a digital trust provider, we provide solutions to address the challenges faced by today's cybersecurity, " said Niki.

Digital signature industry

The urgency of implementing digital signatures or supporting verification systems is increasingly crucial in the midst of the birth of digital services that require extra security -- such as financial services. Its role is also increasingly dominant when the pandemic forces every activity to transform digitally, the approval process to ratify a legal document is now required to be done online.

Seeing this potential, several startups then work on services as support. There are currently four registered players in the OJK IKD e-KYC cluster, including PrivyID, Digisign, and ASLI RI.

The e-KYC platform helps a digital service to verify the validity of the identity of potential users. Usually they also link the verification system with the data held by Dukcapil.

Meanwhile, for electronic certification providers or digitalsignature, the regulation is through the Ministry of Communication and Informatics. Each player who registers will be ranked starting from registered, certified, and the highest being the parent. To achieve parenting, the platform must meet many technical, system and security requirements.

Apart from having to pass a fairly strict audit from the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, the company also obtained this status thanks to a certified infrastructure. For example, they have obtained ISO 27001 for system security. The company also has tier-3 data center facilities and data recovery centers tier-4 to carry out business processes.