Oxford University’s most successful student startup sold to US firm

Onfido, a London-based identity verification spinout from the University of Oxford, has been acquired by Minnesota tech firm Entrust.

The deal marks the institution’s highest ever return on investment for a student-led startup.

Onfido was one of the first entrants into the Oxford University Innovation incubator in 2012, an entrepreneurship programme which helped to nurture the technology developed by student founders Husayn Kassai, Eamon Jubbawy and Ruhul Amin.

The trio went on to receive £20,000 in early phase funding through the university’s seed fund – a figure which, with the sale to Entrust, has delivered an 80 times return.

Husayn said: “In 2012, at 22 years old, building a new way to verify identities online felt like a moonshot.

“Oxford’s leap of faith into a nascent idea was rocket fuel, and I’m incredibly grateful to Oxford University and the entire ecosystem for supporting our journey.

“Onfido’s exit demonstrates the powerful influence academic institutions hold in delivering outsized local and global impact.

“It’s rewarding knowing that our exit’s returns are being reinvested by Oxford into supporting a new generation of entrepreneurs.”

Prior to the acquisition, Onfido employed 500 staff, with revenues exceeding £140 million.

Its technology will now be integrated into the Entrust portfolio, which includes biometrics, AI/machine learning, and no-code orchestration.

Todd Wilkinson, president and CEO of Entrust, added: “This acquisition comes at an inflection point in the industry.

“With the acquisition of Onfido, our customers can leverage global-leading identity verification technology to meet the new challenges of cybersecurity in the age of AI.

“Identity-centric security is the starting point for zero trust frameworks, and ensures a company’s cyber defense is best positioned to meet today’s threats.

“Entrust now provides the broadest identity-centric security capabilities in the market, which combine with strong encryption technologies to enable the evolution to zero trust.”