As digital banking, payments, and e-commerce continue to evolve, financial institutions are placing greater emphasis on secure, frictionless customer experiences. The demand for advanced authentication solutions has accelerated alongside growth in digital transactions, open banking initiatives, and emerging payment technologies. Organizations that can balance security with convenience are increasingly becoming essential partners to banks and payment providers worldwide.
Against this backdrop, Entersekt secured a significant investment from Accel-KKR to support its expansion and innovation efforts. The company has built a strong reputation in authentication solutions, helping financial institutions secure more than one billion transactions each month. The new funding is expected to accelerate product development, support international growth, and strengthen Entersekt’s position in key areas such as passwordless authentication, open banking, and payment security.
As fraud threats continue to evolve and customer expectations rise, investment in identity and authentication technologies remains a critical priority for the financial services industry. Entersekt’s focus on cloud-first solutions and next-generation security capabilities aligns with the broader trend toward more seamless and secure digital experiences.
Menlo Park, CA & Cape Town, South Africa – 9 December 2021 – Entersekt, a global leader in device identity and authentication solutions headquartered in Cape Town, today announced a significant investment from Accel-KKR, a leading technology-focused private equity firm. The investment will enable Entersekt to accelerate its roadmap, hire top talent and fuel expansion into new markets.
“We are very excited to have Accel-KKR on board. The industry is experiencing a wave of innovation in areas like omnichannel and passwordless authentication, 3-D Secure and open banking, all of which are strategic focus areas for Entersekt. The investment from Accel-KKR will help us scale our business to reach more organizations across more regions with our cloud-first solutions,” says Schalk Nolte, Entersekt CEO.
Entersekt currently secures over 1 billion transactions every month, protecting millions of financial services customers across the globe. The company is an innovator in the global authentication market, known for delivering market and industry firsts. Two recent examples include a world-first payment authentication solution based on the FIDO standard, and a market-first implementation of an AI-powered EMV 3-D Secure solution currently making rapid progress at an award-winning bank.
“Entersekt is known for its deep vertical expertise and sucessful track record in the financial services industry. The company scores high marks from customers, especially for its innovative technology that completely reimagines user experiences,” says Joe Porten, Principal at Accel-KKR. “As a partner, Accel-KKR is committed to helping the Entersekt team accelerate growth and continually deliver innovation in their category.”
“Providing frictionless user experiences and allowing organizations to customize their user journeys around their specific needs is a very important part of our value proposition,” Nolte adds. “It brings to life our vision of bridging the gap between identity, authentication and payments.”
Founded in 2000 as one of the first technology-focused private equity firms, Accel-KKR has invested in over 300 mid-market software and technology-enabled services businesses around the world. The firm partners with strong management teams in B2B software companies with mission-critical technologies. In August 2021, Accel-KKR was named one of the Top 25 Private Equity Firms for Growth Companies by GrowthCap Advisory.
The investment from Accel-KKR highlights the growing importance of authentication solutions in the modern payments ecosystem. As financial institutions continue to expand their digital offerings, technologies that support passwordless authentication, open banking, and secure payment security frameworks will play an increasingly important role.
For Entersekt, the additional capital provides an opportunity to accelerate innovation and expand its global footprint. As the lines between identity, authentication, and payments continue to converge, companies that can deliver secure and frictionless user experiences are well positioned for long-term growth.
About Entersekt:
Entersekt is a leading provider of strong device identity and customer authentication software. Financial institutions and other large enterprises in countries across the globe rely on its multi-patented technology to communicate with their clients securely, protect them from fraud, and serve them convenient new experiences irrespective of the channel or device in use. For more information, visit entersekt.com or email [email protected].
About Accel-KKR:
Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with over $10 billion in capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and tech-enabled businesses, well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKR’s investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value alongside management by leveraging the significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions, including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across various transaction types, including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. For three consecutive years between 2019 and 2021, Inc. has named Accel-KKR among “PE 50: The Best Private Equity Firms for Entrepreneurs”, an annual list of founder-friendly private equity firms. Accel-KKR’s headquarters is in Menlo Park, with offices in Atlanta and London. Visit accel-kkr.com to learn more.
