Delta ID

About Delta ID

Delta ID Inc., founded in 2011, specialized in developing iris recognition technology for identity authentication on mass-market computing and mobile devices. The company was established by veterans from the biometrics industry with Dr. Salil Prabhakar serving as its President and CEO. Based in Newark, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, the firm focused on making the highly secure iris biometric modality convenient and accessible for everyday consumer use.

The company's core product was the ActiveIRIS® system, a platform combining patented hardware design and advanced software algorithms to enable fast and reliable iris scanning. This technology was designed for easy integration into devices like smartphones, PCs, tablets, and even vehicles. A key market for Delta ID was India, where its ActiveIRIS system was certified for use with Aadhaar, the country's massive biometric identity system, for authentication and eKYC (Know Your Customer) applications. By May 2015, Delta ID was noted as the first company to bring iris scanning technology to smartphones, collaborating with major OEMs like Fujitsu and Samsung. The firm also formed a strategic partnership with Gentex Corporation to integrate iris scanning into automotive rearview mirrors for driver identification and vehicle personalization.

Delta ID operated on a business-to-business model, licensing its ActiveIRIS® technology to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Its client roster included prominent names such as Samsung, HP, and Fujitsu. The company's growth was supported by venture capital, securing a significant Series A funding round of $5 million in 2014, led by Intel Capital. This was part of a total of $15.1 million raised over three rounds to meet the growing demand from device makers. In a significant milestone, Delta ID was acquired by the Swedish biometrics provider Fingerprint Cards (Fingerprints) in a deal announced in February 2017 and finalized in June 2017. The acquisition, valued at $106 million, allowed Fingerprint Cards to expand its portfolio beyond fingerprint sensors and offer multi-modal biometric solutions by combining fingerprint and iris recognition technologies.