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Zimbabwean startup FlexID, which is building a blockchain-based identity system for those excluded from the banking system due to their lack of identity documents, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Algorand, a blockchain protocol created by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali.
Over the past decade, African countries have made great strides in promoting financial inclusion. More than 60% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa are unbanked, according to World Bank estimates for 2021.
FlexID’s self-sovereign identity (SSI) platform takes a decentralized approach and gives users control over their personal information, something that is not common in Africa.
With funding from Algorand, FlexID aims to make its decentralized identity network available in emerging markets where over one billion people are estimated to lack formal identification, the startup said.
The startup is giving users a blockchain wallet that stores their verificable credentials. Verification is done on-chain through Algorand, which bills itself as a solution to the blockchain trilemma of security, scalability and decentralization.
FlexID will also be integrating with other Algorand decentralized apps (dApps).
The investment from Algorand comes at a time when African blockchain startups are pulling in huge sums from investors.
A recent report said over 40 African blockchain startups raised a total of $127 million in 2021. This year has already seen some eye-popping investments, such as Mara’s $23 million seed round from investors like crypto exchange giants Coinbase and FTX.
Though FlexID provides service in the identity space, the overarching sector its solution and most blockchain platforms fall under is fintech.
Companies such as FlexID are reducing people’s dependency on cash and remittance fees via crypto, lowering barriers to setting up an account via crypto wallets, and addressing the continent’s documentation challenge.
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