TeleSign has today announced that Australia’s Telstra has made a strategic investment in the company. TeleSign has pioneered Mobile Identity by creating mobile phone-based verification tools for online accounts. Many of the world’s largest companies use TeleSign to manage and maintain the integrity of their customer networks by detecting suspicious users before account creation, and protecting their existing users from account compromise. Mark Sherman, Telstra Ventures Managing Director, explains how the digital revolution is pushing mobile operators to seek ways to unlock opportunities for consumers to use their mobile to complement their online presence, without being overshadowed by security concerns.
In the age of email spoofing, identity theft, and the myriad sorts of virtual chicanery and flim-flammery, having a service that can verify a person’s identity is vital. As demand for identity verification and and authentication grows, TeleSign is looking to capitalize on its latest round of funding, shopping for technology acquisitions and new markets for growth. The company recently added Telstra Ventures, the investment arm of the Australian telecom giant, Telstra, as a new strategic investor. Telstra is also incorporating TeleSign’s authentication technology into its own services. The new commitment brings TeleSign’s total haul for its latest round to $49 million. The new partnership is only the latest in a string of successes for TeleSign, which booked $50 million in revenue for 2013, up from $25 million in 2012. For the current calendar year, the company expects to reach $100 million in revenue, according to TeleSign chief executive, Steve Jillings. “This is the next wave of authentication,” says Jillings. “The technology is based on the simple notion that the only unique and readily identifiable identification that anyone has is the mobile phone number.”