Persona raises $200M at $2B valuation to build the verified identity layer for an agentic AI world

Latest funding reflects growing urgency to know the identity behind every digital interaction — without compromising privacy, user experience, or security

SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Persona, the leading verified identity platform, today announced a $200 million Series D funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $2 billion. The round was co-led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with participation from existing investors including BOND, Coatue, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures and Chemistry.

AI, fraud, and fragmentation are redefining online identity

"We're facing an identity authenticity crisis, where the line between real and synthetic has become increasingly blurred," said Rick Song, CEO and co-founder of Persona. "Identity in an AI-driven world isn't about ticking a box, and the question is no longer 'is this a bot or not?' but rather 'who is the bot acting on behalf of, and what is their intent?' Identity is the linchpin: it reveals who is behind each action, provides context around their intent, and ultimately builds trust in a future where AI mediates more of our interactions."

Automated traffic eclipsed human traffic on the internet for the first time in 2024 — and with the advancements in AI, it's projected to account for over 90 percent of all internet traffic by 2030. AI systems have also surpassed human performance on all major CAPTCHA systems, further blurring the line between humans and machines online. But not all AI-driven traffic is malicious — it's simply unidentified. As we move into this new era, the question is shifting from whether an interaction is automated to understanding who is behind it and what their intent is.

At the same time, organizations face a deeply fragmented regulatory environment with ever-evolving compliance demands across jurisdictions, verticals, and identity use cases. Meanwhile, fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, leveraging AI to create synthetic identities, generate deepfakes, and launch automated attacks at scale. And consumers are demanding greater privacy and control, pressuring companies to deliver seamless experiences without compromising on data protection.

Together, the rise of AI agents, increasingly sophisticated fraud, regulatory fragmentation, and growing privacy expectations have created a far more complex — and constantly evolving — identity landscape. As new identity verification technologies and frameworks emerge to meet these challenges, businesses need more than static solutions. They require a dynamic, configurable identity platform that can adapt to diverse use cases, keep pace with shifting risks, and scale trust wherever and however it's needed.

Infrastructure for today's challenges — and tomorrow's unknowns

Persona's platform was built for this complexity. Unlike rigid, one-size-fits-all solutions, it provides a configurable, privacy-first foundation that adapts to businesses' needs as regulations shift, fraud evolves, and use cases expand.

"Identity is a foundational mega-trend driving digital transformation, and we've believed from day one that Persona would power this shift through its software-native solution," said Thomas Laffont, co-founder of Coatue. "With the rise of AI agents, it's critical to verify the identity — whether person or bot — behind every online interaction. Rick and the Persona team have both the vision and the ambition to build the platform that will help to lead this transformation."

In addition to doubling its customer base, Persona has achieved a number of key milestones over the past year, including:

• Ranked #1 across all evaluated Use Cases in the 2024 Gartner® Critical Capabilities report and highest for Ability to Execute in the inaugural Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Identity Verification.
• Enhanced age assurance solutions, which have earned global recognition such as certifications from Germany's KJM and the UK's Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS).
• Expanded international KYB capabilities, helping businesses verify and onboard entities globally while detecting sophisticated impersonation and synthetic fraud.
• Detected over 75 million AI-driven face spoof attempts via advanced liveness detection technology.
• Expanded footprint into workforce identity security, including a partnership with Okta's Workforce Identity Cloud.

Building the verified identity layer for any business

To help organizations keep pace with the rapidly evolving identity landscape, Persona is building a verified identity layer — secure infrastructure that helps businesses verify individuals and entities across contexts while giving people control over their personal information.

For companies, this means a flexible foundation that supports evolving regulations, risk models, and user journeys. For individuals, it means a reusable identity they can carry across services — eliminating the need to repeatedly enter sensitive information while keeping privacy and consent at the core.

"Identity has become the foundation of every digital interaction, and in the age of AI, we believe solving identity will be more pivotal than ever," said Nick Shalek, Partner at Ribbit Capital. "We've long admired Persona's ambition to build a verified identity platform and have been impressed by the diversity of industries, use cases, and geographies of their customers. Their rapid growth and adoption by leaders like OpenAI, LinkedIn, Etsy, Twilio, and Block are clear validation that they're solving real problems at scale."

About Persona

Persona offers a unified identity platform that gives businesses the building blocks they need to securely collect, verify, manage, and make decisions about individuals' and businesses' identities — along with automation and orchestration tools to streamline the entire process from end to end.

Founded in 2018, Persona is headquartered in San Francisco and is available in 200+ countries and territories and 20 different languages. Persona serves any business that needs to verify its customers online, including AI platforms, retail, fintech, marketplace, delivery services, real estate and hospitality, HR, edtech, legal services, home and childcare services, and more. For additional information, please visit https://withpersona.com/

SOURCE Persona