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Prove Payfone
New York, US · Founded 2008 · 610 employees on LinkedIn · 19 known investors
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Prove offers a business onboarding and verification solution that reduces manual input by validating business entities, EIN/TIN, and documents while connecting an individual applicant to a business through mobile device and phone number authentication. It targets companies onboarding business customers, helping them prevent fraud and improve pass rates through configurable API workflows.
Also known as Payfone · Payfone, Inc. · Prove · Prove Identity, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Board
Investors · 19
How we know: MassMutual Ventures's portfolio page · board seat on SEC Form D · offering press articles · funding news · press coverage · research · prnewswire.com · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Oak HC/FT's portfolio page · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Realization Capital Partners's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: RRE Ventures's portfolio page · board seat on SEC Form D · Not right? Tell us
How we know: offering press articles · press coverage · Not right? Tell us
How we know: board seat on SEC Form D · Not right? Tell us
How we know: offering press articles · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us
How we know: funding news · press coverage · Not right? Tell us
Also in the syndicate · 9
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$182M disclosed across 6 of 7 rounds · 2015–2023
▶$43.9MraisedOct 2023 · 21 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Gill CoganDirector
- Daniel O'KeefeDirector
- Rodger DesaiExecutive Officer, Director
- Steve SassamanDirector
- John WoodsDirector
- Zachary FuchsDirector
- Kevin TalbotDirector
- Charles SvirkDirector
- Andrew ProzesDirector
- Thomas FitzSimmonsExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $43.9M
- Amount sold
- $43.9M
- First sale
- Aug 2023
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$91.8MraisedJun 2020 · 15 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Daniel O'KeefeDirector
- Andrew ProzesDirector
- Shai CohenDirector
- Gill CoganDirector
- Kevin TalbotDirector
- Zachary FuchsDirector
- Stuart EllmanDirector
- Michael SpadaforeDirector
- Rodger DesaiExecutive Officer, Director
- Thomas FitzSimmonsExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $96.3M
- Amount sold
- $91.8M
- First sale
- Jun 2020
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$15.1MraisedApr 2019 · 4 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Rodger DesaiExecutive Officer, Director
- Stuart EllmanDirector
- Gill CoganDirector
- Geoffrey MillerDirector
- Andrew ProzesDirector
- Michael SpadaforeDirector
- Thomas FitzSimmonsExecutive Officer
- Kevin TalbotDirector
- Offering amount
- $15.1M
- Amount sold
- $15.1M
- First sale
- Apr 2019
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$23MraisedFeb 2018 · 8 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Michael SpadaforeDirector
- Thomas FitzSimmonsExecutive Officer
- Andrew ProzesDirector
- Charles FoteDirector
- Rodger DesaiExecutive Officer, Director
- Kevin TalbotDirector
- Gill CoganDirector
- Stuart EllmanDirector
- Offering amount
- $23M
- Amount sold
- $23M
- First sale
- Feb 2018
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$2.7MraisedJul 2016 · 11 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Kevin TalbotDirector
- Michael BrodyDirector
- Gill CoganDirector
- Rodger DesaiExecutive Officer, Director
- Charles FoteDirector
- Stuart EllmanDirector
- Eric WoodwardDirector
- Thomas FitzSimmonsExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $31.1M
- Amount sold
- $2.7M
- First sale
- Jun 2016
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$5.5MraisedOct 2015 · 9 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Eric WoodwardDirector
- Stuart EllmanDirector
- Rodger DesaiExecutive Officer, Director
- Thomas FitzSimmonsExecutive Officer
- Michael BrodyDirector
- Kevin TalbotDirector
- Charlie FoteDirector
- Gill CoganDirector
- Offering amount
- $7.5M
- Amount sold
- $5.5M
- First sale
- May 2015
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Prove (formerly Payfone) is a New York-headquartered provider of digital identity verification and authentication technology. Its platform is built around the mobile phone number and device as the anchor for identity, allowing businesses to verify consumers passively rather than requiring document uploads or one-time passcodes. The company positions identity as a persistent trust layer covering people, businesses and AI agents across the customer lifecycle rather than a single onboarding check.
The product portfolio is organized on the Prove Identity Platform and includes Prove Pre-Fill (pre-populating application forms with verified identity data, with optional KYC checks, for both consumers and businesses), Prove Account Opening, Prove Verified User, Prove Human Assurance (verifying human presence at the authenticator level to block bots, SMS pumping and automated abuse), Prove Unified Authentication (an orchestrated alternative to SMS OTP), Know Your Payee (verifying payment recipients before funds are sent), ProveX (access to verified identity credentials from partners), and an Agentic Suite for verifying AI agents and linking them to users. Prove markets to banking, healthcare, crypto, insurance, online gaming, marketplaces, merchants, and fintech/lending sectors, and its solutions are available in 195 countries.
Delivery is developer-oriented: Prove offers a developer portal, client- and server-side SDKs, and API documentation, citing a five-minute implementation time for core API functionality.
Business model
Prove sells identity verification, authentication and fraud-mitigation solutions to enterprises, delivered as cloud services and APIs that customers integrate into onboarding, servicing, call center and payment flows.
Traction
Published customer results include Bilt Mastercard reaching a 90%+ credit card application onboarding pass rate with roughly 50% of form fields filled instantly and a 48-hour implementation; Spark Wallet reporting a 100% reduction in bot attacks; a large U.S. healthcare system creating 500,000 new patient accounts with 95% of patients opting into pre-filled onboarding and a 25% increase in pass rates; and a global credit card issuer reducing customer drop-off by 35% with 22% faster onboarding and an 87% instant identity verification success rate. Prove and Blend reported cutting application drop-off by 16% for banks and credit unions.
Latest developments
Prove has extended its platform toward agentic AI use cases with an Agentic Suite for verifying AI agents and securing agent-driven transactions, and has consolidated its products onto the Prove Identity Platform. Recent published work includes Prove for Amazon Connect for contact-center authentication and account takeover prevention, and a joint result with Blend showing a 16% reduction in loan application drop-off for banks and credit unions.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Prove states it is used by more than 2,000 companies globally and, at the time of the 2020 Early Warning transaction, by over 1,000 enterprises and 500 financial institutions including seven of the top 10 U.S. banks; its site claims 19 of the 20 top banks as customers. It competes in the identity verification, KYC, document verification and authentication market.
Prove emphasizes passive, phone-number-centric verification that avoids document capture and SMS one-time-passcode friction, combined with fast API integration and coverage spanning onboarding, ongoing authentication, payee verification and AI agent trust.
Technology
Prove's cloud solutions and mobile intelligence-driven APIs use the phone number and device to verify and authenticate consumers passively, without requiring users to photograph a driver's license or passport or take additional action. Components referenced include Trust Score, Mobile Auth, and Pre-Fill; the company states its orchestrated APIs can raise approval rates to over 90%. It also offers products for verifying AI agents and linking them to users.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales supported by a developer-first self-serve integration path (developer portal, SDKs, documentation). The sales organization, led from New York, expanded rapidly after 2020, quadrupling in size within roughly a year and adding enterprise sales and strategic account roles targeting new verticals such as digital service providers and internet companies. Partner-sourced distribution has also been used, including a partnership with Early Warning Services dating to 2013 and a lending integration with Blend.
Enterprises that onboard and authenticate consumers, particularly banks and financial institutions, plus healthcare, insurance, crypto, online gaming, marketplaces, merchants, retail, technology, telecommunications and fintech/lending companies.
Geography
Headquartered in New York, NY, with solutions available in 195 countries and customers described as global.
History
The company operated as Payfone before rebranding to Prove in July 2020, an announcement made alongside $100 million in new funding. In the same month it agreed to acquire Early Warning Services' mobile authentication business, multi-factor authentication and orchestration solutions, and the Authentify line of business, following a partnership between the two companies dating to 2013; the transaction brought the number of top 10 U.S. banks served directly by Prove to seven. Prove announced a further acquisition, MEDICI Global, in March 2021.
Compiled by commissioned research from 11 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 16
launches, deals, and filingsProve announced the acquisition of MEDICI Global, described as strengthening its global growth roadmap.
The company operates under the name Prove, described as "Prove (formerly Payfone)".
O'Shaughnessy joined Prove as SVP of sales; the sales team quadrupled in size in the following year. Other hires included Enterprise Sales Director Jeremy Lazzara and Director of Strategic Accounts, MFA, Christabel Bugla.
Prove (formerly Payfone) announced the acquisition of Early Warning Services' mobile authentication business, its multi-factor authentication and orchestration solutions, and the Authentify line of business. Prove assumed direct support for customers sourced through the two companies' partnership, which dated to 2013, bringing the number of top 10 U.S. banks served directly by Prove to seven. Geoff Miller, former TransUnion SVP of Global Fraud and Identity Solutions and a former Payfone board member, joined as SVP and General Manager of the acquired MFA business.
Payfone officially announced its new name, Prove, alongside the announcement of $100 million in new funding.
Acquisition of Early Warning Services' mobile authentication business, its multi-factor authentication and orchestration solutions, and the Authentify line of business, bringing to seven the number of top-10 U.S. banks served directly.
Geoff Miller, former SVP of Global Fraud and Identity Solutions at TransUnion and former Payfone board member, joined to lead the newly acquired multi-factor authentication business.
Payfone announced a $100 million investment led by funds advised by Apax Digital to acquire strategic assets, strengthen machine learning capabilities and build a cross-industry consortium. Daniel O'Keefe and Zach Fuchs of Apax Digital joined the board.
$100M source ↗
Payfone was featured in the top 500 of the ranking.
Payfone launched its Mobile Authentication product in the United Kingdom in spring 2020, offering financial institutions an alternative to one-time SMS passwords for onboarding, login and two-factor authentication.
Round led by an unnamed institutional investor with participation from Synchrony Financial, MassMutual Ventures, Money20/20 founders Anil Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner, and former LexisNexis CEO Andrew Prozes, to expand cybersecurity services in retail, insurance and healthcare.
$23M source ↗
Payfone's patented passive authentication platform was named a finalist in the Consumer Protection category of the Edison Awards.
Payfone and Early Warning partnered beginning in 2013 to deliver authentication solutions to the U.S. financial services industry.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structure▸Research sources · 11
primary sources listed
- Prove Payfoneprove.com · web
- Payfone Raises $100 Million Led by the Apax Digital Fundprnewswire.com · web
11 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Prove Payfone do?
- Prove, formerly Payfone, is a phone-number-based digital identity verification and authentication platform used by banks and enterprises.
- Who are Prove Payfone's investors?
- Prove Payfone's investors include MassMutual Ventures, Oak HC/FT, Realization Capital Partners, Relay Ventures, RRE Ventures, Stack Capital, Apax Digital, Opus Capital and 2 more.
- How much funding has Prove Payfone raised?
- Prove Payfone has disclosed $182M raised across 6 of its 7 known rounds.
- Where is Prove Payfone headquartered?
- Prove Payfone is headquartered in New York, US.