Blink Identity

Blink Identity is an Austin, Texas-based biometric identification company offering an "identity-in-motion" service that recognizes people as they walk past a sensor at full walking speed. According to the company, the system handles more than 60 people per minute in any lighting condition and is designed to work regardless of skin color, gender or walking speed. Primary applications are touchless ticketing at live-event venues, touchless payments for concessions via a stored credit card, and loyalty programs, as well as access control for employees and smart buildings.

Users enroll themselves by submitting a forward-facing photograph from a mobile phone along with a name and, optionally, an email address. The photograph is converted into a unique code, called a template, which is compared against a template generated by a machine-vision camera at the venue's "VIP Lane." The company states that its devices do not store photographs or personal information, that templates are linked to an encrypted database over a secure link, that it does not connect or share with government databases or outside data sources, and that participants can opt out and request deletion at any time. Participation is optional for guests, who can attend events without enrolling.

The founding team previously built and deployed large-scale biometric identification systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, including work in the Middle East, and moved that expertise to commercial markets with a redesign centered on privacy and user experience.

Founding story

Blink Identity was founded in January 2018 by Mary Haskett and Dr. Alex Kilpatrick. Haskett, previously the founder of a skydiving school and of HCI Training, Inc. (acquired by Ideal Innovations, Inc. in 2007, where she served as Vice President of Software and Training), later led Tactical Information Systems, Inc. from 2010 and sought to bring biometric solutions to commercial entities rather than governments. Kilpatrick, a former Air Force officer who managed the service's $12M basic research program in computer science, developed more than a dozen custom biometric applications for the Department of Defense and built the software for what the company describes as the world's first tri-modal (face, fingerprint, iris) fully in-motion biometric access system. Both founders' privacy advocacy shaped the transparency and opt-in principles of the company's face recognition system.

Business model

Blink Identity sells its identification system to venues, employers and other commercial operators, with a stated SaaS recurring revenue model referenced in its partner reseller program. It also recruits channel partners as resellers, offering financial incentives, marketing funds, rebates, deal registration, preferred partner discounts, sales and technical training, and an integrated data-insights dashboard for their customers.

The company describes a SaaS recurring revenue model in materials for its reseller partner program.

Traction

Blink Identity secured an initial partnership with Live Nation for pilot programs across a variety of venues, completed the Techstars Music Accelerator in Los Angeles in spring 2018, raised $1.5 million in seed funding in 2018, and completed SOC 2 Type 1 certification in 2022. Listed partners include Techstars Ventures, Sinai Ventures, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, Avex Group and Ecliptic Capital.

Latest developments

In April 2022 the company announced completion of SOC 2 Type 1 certification. Earlier activity in 2021 included an appearance at Connect:ID 2021, an OWASP Austin presentation on biometrics and privacy, an IBM Developer webinar on bias in visual and voice recognition, a guest lecture by CEO Mary Haskett at the University of Arkansas Honors Program, and recognition as a Data Privacy Day Champion.