Along with NewFund and a few business angels, the 212Founders programme of CDG Invest, the investing arm of the CDG Group, took part in the first seed fundraising for the Moroccan startup ShareID, raising a total of 20 million dirhams (USD1.96M). CDG Invest contributed 8.7 million dirhams to the fundraising effort.
The startup ShareID, which specialises in speedy verification of official identity, will be able to expand its AI skills centre in Morocco and continue deploying its solution in the US thanks to this investment.
A game-changing solution for authentication with official identity, ShareID is redefining the cybersecurity industry. The startup ensures businesses have real-time, accurate access to their customers’ and users’ identities. This proprietary solution makes it possible to ensure authentication without storing any personal information.
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Unlike other products on the market, ShareID enables businesses to offer a solution that is in line with European standards (eIDAS), safe, and very user-friendly: simply taking a brief video of the identity document and the user’s face, ShareID formally and credibly authenticates the actual process. The user will be able to reveal their personal information and/or establish their identification during subsequent conversations by simply smiling.
“We supply organisations, their clients, and end users with a trustworthy and secure authentication solution. In particular, we are excited to accelerate our growth in the American market and welcome our new investors,” said Bernard Mourad, the company’s chairman, and CEO Sara Sebti. “The ShareID team will maintain its US deployment while expanding its AI centre of excellence in Morocco.”
ShareID is a member of Station F’s inaugural class of 212 Founders startups. The 212 Founders teams helped the startup ShareID over its six-month incubation stage as they worked to hone its strategic vision, define its operational plan, and manage its operations. After this incubation stage, 212Founders joins the renowned fund Newfund and a few business angels in a first Seed investment. In this round, the startup was successful in assembling key people who would help it grow its business in America and develop a centre of artificial intelligence expertise in Morocco.
According to Youssef Mamou, Director of the 212Founders programme:
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“We are proud to count ShareID among the first startups of the 212 Founders programme supported and financed in France at Station F. We were impressed by the quality and complementarity of the co-founders Sawsen and Sara as well as the robustness and reliability of the technological solution in a market where identity fraud is on the rise.”
The 212Founders programme has so far materialised 13 Seed and Series A financings since 2019 for a total of 70 million Dirhams as part of its aim to encourage entrepreneurship and the upscaling of the Moroccan economy.
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Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard