Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You’re reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
This article is part of an ongoing series covering startups that have been a part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund (MBRIF) accelerator program.
It is now widely recognized that cyber threats pose a significant threat to businesses, irrespective of their size or location. In fact, in a 2023 State of Cybersecurity report by ISACA, a US-based global information technology (IT) services and consulting platform, notes that a staggering 48% of organizations reported an increase in cyberattacks in 2023, as compared to 2022. In such a landscape, UAE-based online fraud prevention platform Faceki has come up with a service that can easily eliminate any possibility of fraud and impersonation while acquiring customers. “Faceki specializes in online fraud prevention, through innovative customer onboarding solutions that include password-less biometric authentication, know your customer (KYC) identity verification, know your business (KYB) verification, and anti-money laundering (AML) tools,” says Hamza Al-Ghatam, co-founder and CEO of Faceki. “We thus ensure that only the right individuals access online services, and accounts. At Faceki, we help organizations create secure and user-friendly experiences by utilizing our award-winning preoperatory facial recognition technology.”
Launched in Bahrain in 2022, the startup made its way to the UAE in the same year. Based out of the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), Faceki today offers its services to over 195 countries. As a platform that supports over 35 global languages, its application programming interface (API) and software development kit (SDK) come with the promise of easy integration into any given business’ existing infrastructure. Moreover, its services can also be customized to business-specific needs. “At Faceki, our groundbreaking feature is our cutting-edge ‘Passive Liveness’ detection technology,” Al-Ghatam adds. “This advanced technology ensures that the individual utilizing your services is indeed a genuine person, eliminating any possibility of imposters attempting to deceive the system with photographs or video recordings to gain unauthorized access to your valuable information or funds.”
Source: Faceki
However, as a customer, it is possible that you have experienced frustration with the multiple attempts sometimes required to complete online verification processes. But all of that won’t be an issue with Faceki, Al-Ghatam promises. “The remarkable aspect of Faceki is that it doesn’t burden users with any additional actions, such as smiling, blinking, or turning their heads during onboarding,” he says. “With our revolutionary single-snap technology, the verification process becomes effortless and impressively 10 times faster. Most importantly, our ‘Passive Liveness’ detection guarantees that only the rightful individual can access your exceptional services.”
Already, Faceki’s solutions have been favored by prominent local firms such as DIFC Courts, Dubai-based global digital vault Tejouri, and Dubai-based Web3 firm Meta Crypto. And according to Al-Ghatam, Faceki’s results so far are a direct validation of the quality of services it offers. “As a B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, our cutting-edge solutions are available in both cloud and on-premise options,” he continues. “By subscribing to our service, organizations gain access to our powerful tools for user verification performed by Faceki, and are billed based on the number of verifications conducted. Our services thus cater to businesses in various industries, including fintech, governments, delivery, security, recruitment, and many more, providing support for documents and IDs from over 195 countries worldwide.”
But as much as Faceki remains massively tech-driven, much of its success appears to be rooted in its ability to understand customer needs. “At Faceki, we thrive on innovation- it is the driving force behind our technology and business,” Al-Ghatam says. “What sets us apart is our ability to bring innovative technologies that simplify the onboarding process and detect fraud. But we also strongly believe that in order to push innovation even further, we must forge a stronger human connection with our customers and end users. By truly understanding their needs, behaviors, likes, and dislikes, we can not only protect them, but also make accessing digital services a breeze. To achieve this, we conduct interviews and facilitate discussion circles to gain a deeper understanding of their requirements, and gather more accurate feedback.”
Source: Faceki
According to Al-Ghatam, there couldn’t have been a more ideal location to bring all of these thought processes to fruition than the Emirate of Dubai. “Dubai is an incredibly enticing market for startups due to its well-established infrastructure, regulatory framework, and rapid growth,” he says. “These factors have been nurtured by the government’s commitment to innovation and excellence. While it is true that the market has become highly competitive, there are numerous extraordinary platforms and programs available in the country to support startup growth. The likes of the MBRIF and Dubai Future Foundation offer invaluable opportunities for entrepreneurs.”
With regards to the MBRIF Innovation Accelerator program in particular, Al-Ghatam believes that it could hold the key to unlocking opportunities for Faceki. “This program is truly extraordinary, boasting an impressive history of empowering groundbreaking startups to reach their goals and create value by seamlessly integrating them into the Dubai ecosystem,” Al-Ghatam says. “And so, I believe it possesses the potential to expedite growth and foster invaluable opportunities for a more promising future for Faceki.”
