VCs invest $12m in US, Southeast Asia-based Element
A number of Asian VCs including MDI Ventures, a unit of Telkom Indonesia, have joined a $12 million Series A round for Element, a biometrics technology developer based in New York, Jakarta, and Singapore.
The round was led by Indonesia’s GDP Venture and US-based PTB Ventures. Other participants included Indonesia-based Maloekoe Ventures, as well as venture units of Jakarta-listed lenders Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia.
“Over several years, we’ve vetted the top artificial intelligence companies in Asia, the United States, Canada and Europe” On Lee, CTO of GDP, said in a statement. “The end-to-end AI technologies Element has built for mobile and cloud deployments are unlike anything we’ve seen.”
Ayala Corporation, a Manila-based conglomerate that is an LP of Maloekoe, indicated that it would leverage its connection to the company to advance various digitization agendas in the Philippines. Previous backers include US early-stage investor BoxGroup, US and Japan-based Recruit Strategic Partners, and SMDV, the VC arm of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas Group.
Founded in 2012, Element develops technologies that allow unique features of the human body to be used for personal identification and authorization clearance – a discipline known as biometric screening. The company claims to offer software that is usable by any mobile device across a number of use-cases, including immunization platforms, connected diagnostics, and digital identity resourcing for healthcare providers and financial services security.
Operations focus strongly on improving inclusiveness in various financial and health-related segments across the developing world, especially Asia and Africa. In Bangladesh and Cambodia, the company is developing a biometrics platform for infant identification that will be operable offline on any mobile device. This work is being carried out with regional healthcare organizations and Global Good, a collaboration between the Gates Foundation and Intellectual Ventures.
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