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RALEIGH--Rownd, an innovative contextual authentication company, announced today that it had closed $2.2 million in seed funding in an oversubscribed round. Salil Deshpande’s Uncorrelated Ventures led the round, with participation from YCombinator, Alumni Ventures, AIN, Legal Tech Fund, SaxeCap, Grit Partners, DVC, Asymmetry Ventures, and others.
Serving companies from B2C-funded startups to the world’s largest brands, Rownd’s rapidly expanding portfolio consists of companies that depend on the platform to grow their user base by eliminating friction often experienced during sign-up and onboarding. Leaders like the Tribeca Film Festival, the U.S. Air Force, the Stardust Period Tracking app, and Team America, a high-profile Afghan refugee organization, have chosen Rownd as their solution to help add more users through innovative, highly customizable, iterative authentication.
This funding comes as the digital identity market is valued at $27.9 billion in 2022 and is projected to hit $70.7 billion by 2027 as more organizations aim to optimize their signup and verification processes. Even the most user-focused and product-led companies often put too much friction in their marketing and app funnels. This hurts conversion rates, user acquisition, and, eventually, revenue. Soon, customers will have no choice but to use Rownd. Newer regulations like Europe’s GDPR and expanding U.S. state privacy laws, plus greater know-your-customer (KYC) rules, will require additional consent and the collection of more data that adds more friction.
Although firmly in the authentication and identity industry, its unique take on how and where authentication happens creeps into the marketing tech (MarTech) and growth-tech industries. Rownd’s simple SDKs and code snippets can be implemented across a company's constellation of apps and websites to create a unified experience. Rownd also empowers its customers to adjust where authentication happens to maximize growth and minimize fall-off. The company also made its Sign-in Links available to the general public today, which helps customers eliminate friction along the download and authentication funnel for mobile apps. Rownd Sign-in Links create a seamless experience by automatically authenticating mobile app users that arrive from a marketing website, prompting users to install the app along the way if needed.
“Rownd is empowering companies to look past the sign-up and registration pages and have the freedom to align that friction with the intrinsic rewards inside of their app or product,” said Rownd co-founder and CEO Robert Thelen. “I have talked to hundreds of developers, CGOs, and product managers who look at authentication as a tax on their growth. Not anymore. Now, those responsible for growth have the tools to meet their goals with innovative technology and new a take on authentication."
“Rownd’s technology and approach are lightyears ahead of others in the space, and the company’s team is second to none,” said Marc Hayes, Director of Web at Tribeca Film. “We saw huge increases in our onboarded users by iterating where and how authentication happened. Our website users are happier, our venue staff is happier, and the numbers speak for themselves.”
Growing and moving
As a testament to the strength and innovation of Rownd’s platform and it’s focus on end-user experience, Rownd has seen 30% month-over-month growth since launching its authentication solution in January 2022.
“Rownd looks beyond what is and imagines what could be,” said Thelen. “The past few months have been filled with new challenges and opportunities and I am proud of the team for rising to meet each one. Our vision for the future of authentication is one that is variable, contextual, and ever-changing. Long gone are the days of a static sign-up page. It is replaced by simple, low-friction actions spread throughout an app, giving control to those who understand the users the most: marketers and product managers.”
To learn more about what Rownd is doing to help companies grow with authentication, please visit www.rownd.com.
About Rownd
Rownd is an innovative contextual authentication platform. Brands rely on the Rownd Platform to better align the friction of gathering profile and authentication data with the intrinsic rewards of their app or website. Rownd’s Hub can be implemented on any website in seconds with an easy-to-use code snippet. With 12+ SDKs for backend, web app, and mobile app implementations, Rownd provides a “batteries included” system that spans a company’s ecosystem. This creates a cohesive and well-rounded experience for new and returning users alike. Rownd is backed by YCombinator, Uncorrelated Ventures, Alumni Ventures, AIN, Legal Tech Fund, SaxeCap, Grit Partners, DVC, Asymmetry Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, and many others. Visit rownd.com or follow Rownd on Twitter and LinkedIn to learn more.
For media inquiries, please get in touch with Robert Thelen at robert@rownd.io.
