Universal identity provider Proxy came out of stealth while announcing $13.6 million in Series A funding, which brings the company’s total funding to $16.6 million to date.
The company also introduced Proxy Signal, a smartphone-powered universal identity signal aimed at bringing frictionless access and personalized experiences for employees.
Proxy proposes a new approach to identity, eliminating the need for a multitude of keys, cards, badges, apps, and passwords to gain access to the buildings, devices, and services.
Emitted from a smartphone, Proxy Signal is a secure and privacy-driven universal identity signal that seeks to change the manner in which people interact with things they use every day by working everywhere, and going beyond access, to enable responsive environments.
The company’s initial product line delivers mobile access throughout commercial buildings and the workplace, including secured doors, elevators and turnstiles. Already employed in over 50 organizations, it eliminates keycards, badges, visitor passes, ID cards and QR codes.
Some of Proxy’s customers include WeWork, which has implemented Proxy Signal at the company’s headquarters in New York and San Francisco, and Dropbox, which has adopted frictionless access at its San Francisco headquarters.
Proxy’s tokenized access engine and universal identity protocol built on top of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) can be used on any smartphone or wearable to passively and securely emit a signal that represents the user. A Proxy ID app allows users to create their Proxy identity before activating their Proxy Signal.
“Users own their identity and personal data and have complete control of the devices that can interact with their Proxy Signal. Users must opt-in and explicitly grant permissions to any device, product or organization they connect with, ensuring the user always has full visibility and control over how their signal is being used in real time,” Proxy says.
Proxy’s solution is available immediately, and the Proxy ID app can be found in both the iOS App Store and Google Play. The company has published APIs and SDKs for those looking to join the network, and offers Proxy mobile readers for buildings and workplaces via its website.
“There are 20 billion connected devices and 7.5 billion humans on earth. We believe Proxy Signals are the future of how everyone will securely authenticate and interact with everything in the physical world,” said Proxy CEO and co-founder, Denis Mars. “To achieve this, we created an entirely new identity protocol over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) that represents humans in the physical world via their smartphones.”
The Series A funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins and saw participation from WeWork, Y Combinator, Coatue Management and industry executives.
Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek.
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