Appruve

Appruve is a Ghanaian developer of identity verification software operating under parent company Inclusive Innovations. It provides an API for verifying user identity, detecting fraud and handling digital documentation, with a focus on alternative datasets that enable or complement traditional government sources such as international passports and national IDs.

In the period preceding its 2023 acquisition, the company worked on analyzing fraud data from global money networks, verification of mobile money financial statements, and blocklist data sourced from banks and fintechs. It was described in April 2023 as a four-year-old company processing up to 100,000 verifications per month. Its offering is positioned as a pan-African financial data API used by financial services firms to onboard, verify and monitor the identities of Africans through digital channels.

Business model

Appruve supplies identity verification, fraud detection and digital documentation capabilities to businesses through an API, drawing on government data sources as well as alternative datasets such as mobile money statements, global money network fraud data and bank and fintech blocklists.

Traction

Appruve was processing up to 100,000 verifications per month as of April 2023, and brought a team, APIs and customers to Smile Identity through the acquisition.

Latest developments

In April 2023, Smile Identity announced it had acquired Inclusive Innovations, Appruve's parent company, in a deal whose terms were not disclosed; sources described it as a cash-and-stock transaction of not more than $20 million, largely in stock. Appruve became a Smile Identity subsidiary, its APIs covering mobile money, data and anti-fraud checks were folded into Smile Identity's suite, and founder Paul Damalie took on leadership of Smile Identity's international expansion.