uqudo

Uqudo is a digital identity verification platform based in the UAE, with legal incorporations in the UK and Rwanda. Founded in 2020, the company specializes in providing digital identity verification, know your customer (KYC), and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions for various industries across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Uqudo's software development kit can be seamlessly integrated into existing systems, offering four core pillars: KYC, sanctions (AML and screening), know your business (KYB), and biometric authentication.

The company's technology leverages advanced digital identity solutions, including biometrics, certified 3D liveness detection, near-field communication (NFC)-based passport reading, cognitive document analysis, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain. This enables users to experience a fast, secure, and frictionless onboarding process while protecting organizations from fraudulent activities and ensuring compliance with KYC, AML, and customer due diligence (CDD) regulations. Uqudo's primary revenue stream is based on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) eKYC model, involving direct selling and selling through partners.

Uqudo's platform offers tools such as authenticating and extracting data from official identification documents using AI, verifying customer faces within seconds, and screening against a list of over 1.7 million politically exposed persons. The company also provides adverse media screening and biometric authentication options to eliminate fraud due to weak, stolen, or misused passwords. Uqudo's solution can verify more identities in the MEA region than its competitors through NFC or civilian registries, and it can use alternative biometrics where formal identity cards are not available.

In December 2022, Uqudo played a crucial role in Oman's first fully digital municipal election, enabling 288,469 voters to cast online votes. The company has also been involved in building one of the GCC's largest national identity assurance programs and enabling the opening of the first digital bank in Rwanda. Uqudo's achievements have been recognized with awards, including the Best KYC Solution title at the Leaders in Fintech Awards 2023.