Investor interest in identity security is heating up fast. In recent weeks alone, two startups in the space raised over $300 million, and a new biometric identity initiative launched in the U.S., showing how serious the market is getting about online protection.

The biggest deal came from Persona, a San Francisco-based company that builds identity verification tools. It secured $200 million in a Series D funding round led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital. The company plans to use the new capital to improve its products for a digital world where bots are starting to outnumber real users.

Just days earlier, another startup, Veza, also announced a major Series D round of $108 million led by New Enterprise Associates. Veza focuses on identity security and says its tools are built for the era of AI-powered systems.

Biometric Security Goes Mainstream

The investment activity isn’t limited to traditional startups. World, a project co-founded by Sam Altman, recently launched its identity verification platform in the U.S. It uses iris scans to confirm users are human. The company opened locations in cities like Los Angeles and Nashville to capture encrypted images of people’s eyes and faces. So far, World has raised $244 million from major investors. Its goal is to create secure identity systems that distinguish between people and machines.

Strong Year for Identity Security Funding

Over the past year, more than a dozen identity-focused startups have raised significant funding rounds. Here are a few notable examples:

• Aura, a Boston-based company offering consumer security subscriptions, has raised over $660 million since its launch in 2017. That includes a $140 million Series G round in March.
• Semperis, headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, has raised close to $500 million. It provides threat detection and response tools to protect identity systems.
• Reality Defender, a newer company based in New York, specializes in detecting deepfakes. It recently secured a funding round from strategic investors.

Public companies in the identity security space are also seeing a lift. Okta, which provides identity verification services, has seen its market value climb to $20 billion after a strong stock performance. CyberArk, another leader in identity security, recently reached a $17 billion valuation.

Demand for Security Keeps Growing

According to the Identity Management Institute, global spending on identity and access management is expected to exceed $24 billion this year — a 13% jump from the previous year. Several trends are fueling this growth, including the rise of remote work, growing cloud adoption, and the shift toward biometric security to replace passwords.

AI is another major driver. Companies like Persona estimate that bots and AI agents will account for nearly 90% of online activity by 2030. These systems are becoming more advanced — capable of mimicking real users, generating fake content, and solving CAPTCHA tests.

While this raises concerns, it also creates a strong market for companies focused on identity protection and online security. As bots get smarter, the need for tools that can tell real users apart from machines becomes more critical — and more valuable.