Stony Lonesome Advisors is the Investment Advisor for the Stony Lonesome Group family of VC Funds:  Stony Lonesome Capital LP;  Stony Lonesome Capital II LP- Military Medicine, Healthcare, & Veteran Care;  Stony Lonesome Capital III LP- Cybersecurity & Big Data Stony Lonesome Capital Special Reserve I - Growth Equity Follow-on Investments Stony Lonesome Capital Special Reserve II - Growth Equity Follow-on Investments

Stony Lonesome Group

Blu Venture Investors is a venture capital investment company that supports early-stage entrepreneurs. Their investors are experienced, successful operating executives with experience in a broad range of industries and business models. Each of their investors has successfully launched new companies, products or services. The company provides initial growth-stage funding and active mentorship to early-stage companies while delivering strong returns for its members and the entrepreneurs they support. Blue Ventures Investors was founded in 2010 and is based in Vienna, Virginia, United States.

Blu Venture Investors

BoxGroup is an early-stage investment fund that invests in technology companies. The fund aims to invest in the consumer, enterprise, fintech, healthcare, life science, and marketplaces industries at the earliest stage, as early as pre-seed round and as late as Series A. It supports companies based on a conviction in the team and seeks entrepreneurs working at the beginning of movements in existing markets or new markets yet to be created and with visions to create the next generation of category-defining businesses. Their typical investment ranges from $200,000 to $500,000. Adam Rothenberg and David Tisch founded BoxGroup in 2009 in New York, New York.

BoxGroup

Musha Ventures is an Africa-focused micro VC and angel fund. The firm invests in sectors, including education, healthcare, fintech, agriculture, and supply chain.

Musha Ventures

J. Hunt Holdings is an investment holding company that provides funds for early stage ventures. It is specialized in both domestic and international projects and investments. The company invests between $100,000 and $1,100,000 in five key industry categories, including investment services, portfolio management, accounting, and financial solutions. Mainly focused on the technology and telecommunications sectors, it also invests in the video and sensing, data center management, social media, data security, and other sectors. J. Hunt Holdings is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.

J. Hunt Holdings

FTV Capital is a growth equity investment firm that has raised over $1.8 billion since its inception to invest in high-growth companies offering a range of innovative solutions in three sectors: enterprise solutions, financial services, and payments/transaction processing.  FTV’s experienced team leverages its domain expertise and proven track record in each of these sectors to help motivated management teams accelerate growth.  FTV also provides companies with access to its Global Partner Network, a group of the world’s leading enterprises and executives who have helped FTV portfolio companies for more than a decade.   Founded in 1998, FTV Capital has invested in 86 portfolio companies and has offices in San Francisco and New York.

FTV Capital

K Street Capital (KSC) is a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm founded in 2012 that supports the development of high-potential entrepreneurs with both a seed-stage venture fund and a 100-member syndicate. KSC boasts the largest greater-DC region angel network whose syndicate  investor-members and Fund LPs are c-suite business leaders and owner/founders in the highest levels of government, media, technology, and finance. Over the past 10 years, KSC has invested $11 million in over 70 portfolio companies and funds, 50% of which are based in DC, and 42% of which are led by women or BIPOC founders. We aim to turn the Washington, DC region into the nation’s greatest exemplar of a venture capital hub that integrates diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout its ecosystem to build a community of founders, funders, and companies that are tech-forward and thriving.

K Street Capital

Moonshots Capital makes seed stage investments in technology startups led by exceptional founders who are building products that “re-imagine” work and personal life in large and growing markets. We bring a disciplined approach to the investment process to identify companies with “moonshot” potential.

Moonshots Capital

Viking Global Investors is an investment firm that uses fundamental analysis to select investments across industries and geographies. It is a global investment firm managing more than twenty billion in capital across long-short equity and long-only strategies. The firm was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, with offices in New York City, Hong Kong, and London.

Viking Global Investors

Morgan Stanley, from the number of their offices and employees to the experience of their management and the quality of their financial results, the facts about Morgan Stanley tell an impressive story.  Morgan Stanley and its people have helped redefine the meaning of financial services. The firm has continually broken new ground in advising its clients on strategic transactions, pioneering the global expansion of finance and capital markets, and providing new opportunities for individual and institutional investors.  Morgan Stanley maintained comprehensive corporate governance guidelines for years before corporate governance became headline news.

Morgan Stanley

Airbnb is an online community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book accommodations through mobile phones or the Internet. The company connects travelers seeking authentic experiences with hosts offering unique, inspiring spaces. Whether the available space is a castle for a night, a sailboat for a week, or an apartment for a month, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to showcase these distinctive spaces to an audience of millions. By facilitating bookings and financial transactions, Airbnb makes the process of listing or booking a space effortless and efficient. With 4,500,000 listings in over 65,000 cities in 191 countries, the company offers the widest variety of unique spaces for everyone at any price point around the globe.

Airbnb

SoftBank provides fixed-line, mobile telephony, internet, telecommunications, and digital television products. It is a multinational telecommunications and internet corporation focused on broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, the internet, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses. The company operates through four segments. The mobile communications segment provides mobile communications services, produces and distributes online games for smartphones and other devices, offers mobile broadband services, provides supply chain solutions, handset protection, and insurance, buy-back and trade-in services, omnichannel solutions, and financial services, and sells mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, and SoftBank smartphones. The Sprint segment offers mobile and fixed-line voice and data transmission services for individual consumers, businesses, government subscribers, and resellers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. and sells mobile devices and accessories. The fixed-line telecommunications segment offers telecom services such as fixed-line telephone and data communications services to corporate customers and broadband services to individual customers. The internet segment is engaged in the operation of the Yahoo! Japan portal, the sale of internet advertising, the operation of e-commerce sites, the provision of membership services, the sale and marketing of data centers, the provision of online automobile-related information, and the operation of the internet affiliate system. SoftBank also generates and sells electricity from renewable energy sources; provides payment processing, invoice collections, and computation services for businesses; distributes video, voice, and data content via media; operates the IT information site ITmedia; provides solutions and services for online businesses; and operates online games and software downloads. Additionally, it is involved in the ownership of professional baseball teams, the operation of baseball games, the management and maintenance of baseball stadiums and other sports facilities, and the procurement of funds by issuing preferred securities.

SoftBank

Lyft designs, markets, and operates a mobile application that matches drivers with passengers who request rides, and also allows payment through the app. It also allows riders to schedule rides up to seven days in advance. Its services are primarily focused on college, university, and corporate communities. Lyft is a fast-growing ridesharing company in the U.S. and is available to 95 percent of the US population. Lyft was founded in June 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer in San Francisco, California.

Lyft

CapitalG, Alphabet's independent growth fund, invests in remarkable companies transforming the fields of consumer products and services, enterprise tech, cybersecurity, fintech, cryptocurrency, and transportation tech. CapitalG partners with growth-stage companies in their transition from startup to scale-up through hands-on assistance from its in-house growth team and connections to Google's engineering, product, marketing, sales, and people operations experts worldwide. More than 2,500 Googlers and Alphabet leaders have already engaged with CapitalG portfolio companies, including Airbnb, Collibra, CrowdStrike, Curated, DCG, Duolingo, Freshworks, Gusto, ID.me, Lyft, Robinhood, Stripe, UiPath, Whatnot, among others.

CapitalG

Lead Edge Capital is a $5 billion growth equity firm investing in software, internet, and tech-enabled services businesses globally. The firm has invested in a number of major software and internet companies around the world, including Alibaba Group, Arrive Logistics, Asana, Azul Systems, Bazaarvoice, Benchling, Clearscore, Duo Security, Grafana, GrowthZone, Holistiplan, LeanStaffing, LiveView Technologies, Pacemate, Safesend, Signal Sciences, Tempo, Toast, Wise, and YouSign. Lead Edge has invested in more than 100 companies worldwide and has seen over 60 portfolio companies achieve an exit.   One of the main drivers of Lead Edge’s success is its unique investor base, a group of 700+ executives, entrepreneurs, and dealmakers who have built and run some of the world’s most successful companies. In addition to providing flexible capital, Lead Edge leverages this global advisory group to connect portfolio companies with the customers, partners, talent, and advisors needed to accelerate growth. Lead Edge Capital was founded in 2011 and has offices in New York City and Santa Barbara.

Lead Edge Capital

WndrCo is a holding company that acquires, operates, and develops businesses at the intersection of technology and media.

WndrCo

PSP Growth is the investment arm of PSP Partners focused on venture and growth equity investments in early-stage and high-growth businesses.

PSP Growth

Willoughby Capital is an investment firm that combines institutional scale with a permanent capital base. Willoughby is focused on partnering with best-in-class growth companies across private and public markets. It was founded in 2009 by Daniel Och and is headquartered in New York, United States.

Willoughby Capital

Scout Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm making the world a better, safer place by investing in frontier and dual-use technologies built by veterans, intelligence leaders, and premier research labs. By leveraging our network of professional investors, operators, and experienced entrepreneurs, Scout can effectively execute every aspect of our investment thesis.

Scout Ventures

Auctus is an Australian Stock Exchange listed (ASX: AVC) alternative investment fund focused on investing in the global technology sector.  Our mission is to invest in: exceptional talents, teams, and businesses to deliver outstanding results for investors. It was established to provide differentiated and active strategies across the global alternative investment landscape to service funds, family offices and sophisticated investors. Alternative Investments are assets in which returns are not correlated to one or more conventional investment types; equities, bonds and cash. Alternative Investments may include asset classes such as venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), real estate, debt funds and infrastructure.

Auctus Alternative

Counterpoint Global is one of Morgan Stanley's fundamental equity teams that aims to make long-term investments in unique companies. The culture of the team promotes collaboration, creativity, ongoing development, and differentiated thinking. Company portfolios are normally concentrated and differentiated from their benchmarks. Counterpoint Global is made up of 35 individuals, including 18 investment professionals and two disruptive change researchers.

Counterpoint Global

ID.me

ID.me simplifies how individuals prove and share their identities online. The ID.me secure digital identity network has more than 72 million members with over 145,000 new subscribers joining daily,  including 29 states, 10 federal agencies, and over 500 retail brands. The company provides identity proofing, authentication, and group affiliation verification for organizations across sectors. ID.me technology meets federal standards and the company is approved as a NIST 800-63-3 IAL2 / AAL2 conformant credential service provider by the Kantara Initiative. ID.me is the only provider with video chat and is committed to “No Identity Left Behind” to enable all people to have a secure digital identity.

<div>ID.me provides a digital wallet and identity verification services. It puts users in control of data and how they use the digital wallet to access benefits and services. The company offers a range of services, including Digital Wallet that allows access to government services and benefits; Identity Verification; Government Services; Discounts and Cash Back providing big discounts and cash backs from over 5,000 stores; and Prescription Services that enable savings of up to USD 95 per prescription through the Rx Card.</div>

Facial recognition delivers incredible convenience to consumers, as well as serious risks.

Facial Recognition

ID.me Seeks $1.8 Valuation As ID Theft Threat Grows

<div>
 
 ID.me provides a digital wallet and identity verification services. It puts users in control of data and how they use the digital wallet to access benefits and services. The company offers a range of services, including Digital Wallet that allows access to government services and benefits; Identity Verification; Government Services; Discounts and Cash Back providing big discounts and cash backs from over 5,000 stores; and Prescription Services that enable savings of up to USD 95 per prescription through the Rx Card.
 
 
 
 
 ID.me operates on a B2B and B2C sales model. It provides special discounts for military personnel, nurses, teachers, medical providers, first responders, and EMT and government employees. Moreover, any savings obtained through the ID.me Rx Program cannot be combined with insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and other discounts in a single transaction.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 ID.me has partnerships with 31 states, multiple federal agencies, and over 500 name brand retailers. Moreover, it has over 112 members and is accepted by more than 600 partners. Shopify is considered to be the company&rsquo;s largest partner. Meanwhile, it serves a customer base across the retailers, healthcare, financial services, and travel and leisure industries, as well as government agencies. Apple, Amazon, Yeti, Lenovo, and Ford are among ID.me&rsquo;s customers.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 ID.me raised USD 132 million from its latest funding round in April 2023. This was a Series D round led by Viking Global Investors, and the funds raised were used to build the company&rsquo;s secure digital identity network.
 
 
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Founded in Spain, FacePhi offers a wide range of facial recognition identity authentication solutions for transaction approval and digital onboarding. FacePhi&rsquo;s Selphi software allows the user to conduct ID authentication by using a selfie. The selfie is encrypted and sent to the bank&rsquo;s database to be used in payee authentication. The encryptions ensure the user's privacy as the full image is not sent to the bank. The company&rsquo;s revenue increased by around 143% during the first half of 2020 (compared to the same period in 2019) on account of agreements with 10 new clients, compared to 13 new customers during 2019 (full year), indicating the growth potential of the company.
 
 
 In May 2021, FacePhi partnered with Revelock, a Spanish fraud detection company, to provide comprehensive identity verification and fraud prevention solutions for financial institutions. In February 2022, the company partnered with software company Oracle Cloud Marketplace, for the latter to work as a distributor for FacePhi's digital onboarding and facial recognition solutions. In November 2021, the company also partnered with airport operator Aena to offer identity verification for passengers and employees at a price of USD 1.7 million for four years. With the aim of expanding presence in the LATAM region, FacePhi established a regional office in Uruguay in March 2022, followed by an agreement with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates?industryIds=16">
 Hites,
 </a>
 a Chilean department store, to use remote selfie onboarding technology to let Hites&rsquo; customers apply for credit cards online. In May 2022, FacePhi opened another
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10796?industryIds=16">
 office in the UK
 </a>
 to serve Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 During the fiscal year 2022, FacePhi recorded net revenues of EUR 2.2 million ( ~USD 2.3 million), growing 69% YoY, and an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 4.3 million ( ~USD 4.6 million), unchanged from the previous year.
 
 
 
</div>

FacePhi

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Sightcorp is an AI spin-off from the University of Amsterdam that develops patented proprietary AI Software solutions for mobile apps, including face detection (detect multiple faces in an image), emotion analysis, crowd demographics, and attention analytics. The main target markets of the company include retail, advertising, hospitality, and digital signage.In January 2022, Sightcorp was <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7828?industryIds=16">acquired by Raydiant </a>, a provider of an in-location experience management platform, to jointly develop solutions for personalized on-screen, in-location experiences targeting retailers, restaurants, etc. Sightcorp expects to open offices in Lithuania and London in 2022 and to grow its European team from 20 to 100. Raydiant is also hiring across the US and internationally to accompany Sightcorp’s new offices.

Sightcorp

<div>
 
 Okaya offers a mobile app that aims to understand users&rsquo; wellbeing by using a combination of facial recognition technology, biometrics analysis (such as heart rate, weight, etc.), and machine learning. Okaya&rsquo;s facial recognition algorithm, developed in-house, analyses facial features obtained from a 15-second video recording where up to 30 frames are captured in a second. This data is evaluated along with other biometrics to determine a person&rsquo;s level of fatigue. The product claims to help create strong work teams and a robust work environment allowing the identification of areas where improvement is required.
 
</div>

Okaya

<div>
 
 Facetec offers a 3D face authentication software called ZoOm capable of high-performance liveness detection (verification of whether facial features captured are from a living subject). The software can work on smart mobile devices and webcams. The company also has patented technology to generate a 3D face map using a video selfie recorded even with a 2D camera. In September 2019, Facetec improved its product by embedding an age-estimation tool. Even though selfie-based authentication has become commonplace, many of them uses 2D facial mapping which makes it are vulnerable to spoofing attacks (trying to obtain access illegitimately by reproducing a person's face using images, masks, mannequins etc.) due to use of 2D mapping of facial features. FaceTec's technology is superior to others as it allows to create a 3D map of the face even with a normal 2D camera. While most other 3D face mapping requires designated hardware components, FaceTec's technology eliminates this requirement. Hence, it does not require app developers to rely on device manufacturers to incorporate additional hardware to use ZoOm. The company claims its product is one of the few companies to be certified in level 1 and 2 in iBeta Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) testing directed by an ISO standard. The software can detect digital and physical 'spoof artifacts' such as high-resolution photos and videos, masks and mannequins. FaceTec has over 100 customers across various verticals with an installed base of over 10 billion smart devices. ZoOm targets a wide range of markets ranging from banking, e-commerce, healthcare, insurance, e-voting, attendance, and government. Majority of FaceTec's customers are currently government and financial institutions.
 
</div>

FaceTec, Inc.

<div>
 
 FaceFirst offers facial recognition solutions mainly for access control as well as for identity authentication and real-time security. It focuses on retailers, airports, casinos, banks, as well as music and gaming events. The company also offers a mobile app (for iOS and Android) for facial recognition on the go. FaceFirst&rsquo;s facial recognition tool is mainly aimed at the retail segment, which accounts for around 50% of its business. FaceFirst&rsquo;s patented retail security platform can identify any known shoplifters or forbidden employees attempting to enter the store. Its products can be integrated with existing retail systems. 
 
 
 The company also introduced Mask-ID in November 2018, which instantly blurs identified faces without compromising accuracy. Additionally, the retail security platform allows its users to access the company&rsquo;s database of retail criminals, enabling them to include any individuals banned by the company itself. FaceFirst is one of the companies to work with lawmakers to help regulate the industry.
 
</div>

FaceFirst

Companies that are developing facial recognition technology to suggest tags for photos uploaded on the platform, typically social media.

Companies that provide facial recognition technology for contactless and fast-payment gateways.

Companies providing tools to identify VIP customers and repeat customers by using facial recognition.

Companies that provide technology to monitor physical access to offices, retail stores, and residences as well as access to electronic devices, such as mobile phones and laptops, using facial recognition.

Companies providing facial recognition technology to identify people from live and recorded videos.

Companies that provide facial recognition technology to police and government agencies to identify criminals, protestors, unauthorized overstayers in the country, and departing passengers.

Facial recognition is a type of biometrics used to verify individuals

Used in smart city applications for access control

Facial recognition technology is built on ML models for training data

ID.me

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