SIX FinTech Venture is the corporate venture capital arm of Six Group that began operation on December 1, 2017, with its headquarters in Zurich in Switzerland. It looks to invest in global early stage startups in the financial technology space.

SIX FinTech Ventures

Zürcher Kantonalbank is an independent, incorporated public-law institution is its public service mandate. Enshrined in law, it governs the bank's economic, social, and environmental commitment.

Zürcher Kantonal Bank

The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) finances tech start-ups with growth potential and has supported more than 700 start-ups since 2005. With the launch of its fourth fund, HTGF now has about 1.4 billion euros under management. Its team of experienced investment managers and start-up experts support young companies with expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected about 5 billion euros of capital into the HTGF portfolio via more than 2,000 follow-on financing rounds. In addition, HTGF has already successfully sold shares in more than 170 companies. Fund investors in this public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and 45 companies from a wide range of industries. Fund investors in this public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and 45 companies from a wide range of industries.

HTGF | High-Tech Gruenderfonds

Arab Bank (Switzerland) is provides private banking services & built an excellent reputation in the successful management of client assets.

Arab Bank (Switzerland)

PXL Vision

PXL Vision is a Swiss premium provider for automated, AI-based identity verification helping customers worldwide reduce the cost of customer onboarding & compliance, boost customer conversion and prevent fraud. PXL Vision's goal is to build a world full of trust by enabling safe digital interactions based on verifiable identities and protecting customer data. PXL Vision's identity verification uses proprietary machine learning to verify the authenticity of identity documents and check wether the user is a real live person and the owner of the document through facial biometric verification. According to Gartner, 80% of all organizations worldwide will employ identity verification in one way or the other. Unbiased, verifiable identities are the key to secure access and trustworthy interactions in the digital world. We are committed to be technology leader for high-performance machine learning based solutions and best practices in identity verification.

<div><p>PXL Vision is a technology company based in Switzerland. It specializes in automated, AI-based identity verification. The company&rsquo;s web-based Automated ID Verification can complete the identity verification process in under 30 seconds. Its products include PXL Ident, which enables customers to verify automatically and quickly, PXL Pro, which makes the identity verification process a personalized experience, and PXL Check, which is an add-on tool for manual identity verification.</p></div>

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

Facial Recognition

PXL Vision to collaborate with Idiap for research project to fight deepfakes

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  <p>
    PXL Vision is a technology company based in Switzerland. It specializes in automated, AI-based identity verification. The company&rsquo;s web-based Automated ID Verification can complete the identity verification process in under 30 seconds. Its products include PXL Ident, which enables customers to verify automatically and quickly, PXL Pro, which makes the identity verification process a personalized experience, and PXL Check, which is an add-on tool for manual identity verification.
  </p>
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  </p>
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    PXL Vision has a B2B sales model, and it has established an office in Germany. Some of the company&rsquo;s use cases are digital identity verification, customer onboarding, know your customer, age verification, and account onboarding.
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Key customers and partnerships</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    Some of PXL Vision&rsquo;s partners are Salesforce, SAP, Nevis, Evidian, BSI, and Alteatec. The company serves customers in diverse industries, including insurance, telecommunications, fintech and banking, gambling, video gaming, media, mobility, online dating, HR management, healthcare, and e-commerce. Quick Line, TrueWealth, UPC, Sunrise, SwissSign, Mobility, and Swisscom are among its customers.
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  <p>
    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.
  </p>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Funding and financials</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
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FacePhi

<p><span>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.</span></p><p><span>In January 2022, Sightcorp was </span><a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7828?industryIds=16"><span>acquired by Raydiant </span></a><span>, 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.</span></p>

Sightcorp

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  <p>
    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.
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Okaya

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  <p>
    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.
  </p>
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FaceTec, Inc.

<div>
  <p>
    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. 
  </p>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
</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

PXL Vision

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