A London-based start-up that promises …magic in the way millions of people around the world can be digitally authenticated has been co-founded by 31-year-old Thanasis Mandaltsis, already attracting funding despite the startup only being around for a few months.

Magic ID, the company he co-founded this year with thirty-five-year-old Aariffa Hajamaideen, offers a suite of products designed to verify the identities of people from around the world, on a total of 2,500 types of documents from 195 countries.

It uses Artificial Intelligence to detect whether an ID document is authentic and then compare it to a video taken by the person themselves.

People thus obtain a personal identity profile, which uses multiple factors and encrypted data to ensure that it is extremely difficult for anyone to pretend to be someone they are not. And this, without jeopardizing their privacy and personal data. In fact, the company recently raised pre-seed capital of £300,000 from two funds, the British SFC Capital and the Czech Presto Ventures, in order to expand its presence on both sides of the English Channel.

Why is what the company offers important?

“Our economy is going through a path of massive transformation. Many services that previously required a physical presence are now available from the comfort of our homes. This transformation, however, does not come without a price. A recurring pattern we’ve noticed is that, usually, when this kind of convenience becomes possible, the price we pay is our data and privacy. Digital identity means identifiable data, compliant with regulations and required for banking, insurance, healthcare, education, government and other services. Identity is the cornerstone for access to all essential services that make our lives simpler and fairer, leading to high growth opportunities when implemented effectively. On the other hand, however, its improper application can mean a complete lack of privacy and even targeted blocking,” explains Thanasis Mandaltsis, who has studied Business Administration at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, to the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency, before making a ” “regenerative” master’s degree in digital innovation in Amsterdam.

What does Magic ID do differently compared to other ID verification models that also use Artificial Intelligence? “At Magic ID we approach digital identity from a growth perspective, not just a compliance one. We use best-in-class identity verification tools that can catch fraud at scale, but the biggest value we offer is that we enable our customers to discover other users whose identities have been pre-verified and who fit their needs , in terms of compliance with rules. In the process, people earn rewards for high-value services (eg a better insurance policy for their family) and businesses generate passive revenue streams from the circulation of identity profiles,” he notes.

Something like rebirth

How did the journey of Thanasis Mandaltsis begin, which eventually led him to the co-founding of Magic ID? “I have left Greece for eight years. I studied Business Administration at the University of Macedonia and then did a Masters in Digital Innovation in Amsterdam. Through this degree I was exposed to opportunities in companies and startups that use Artificial Intelligence and blockchain to tackle problems from a new perspective. This was something of a rebirth for me! In 2016 I discovered the company “Onfido” and was impressed by the way it used Artificial Intelligence to distinguish whether identity documents were authentic. At the time, what he was doing was truly groundbreaking and I knew straight away that I wanted to join the team at this London-based company. A few months later I was fortunate enough to be offered a role in their original sales team. I later moved into a new role, in product development, which gave me a more holistic perspective on the process of creating and selling digital products,” he says.

There was a moment of “Eureka!” on the way from Onfido to Magic ID? “Ha! I wish there was a “Eureka” moment, but actually identity verification is a problem that has been of personal concern to me since my team led the development of Onfido’s mobile identity between 2019 and 2021.

It took multiple iterations and discussions with countless businesses to get here. From 2020 we also take part in UK and EU government workshops involving identity issuers, digital wallet providers, verifiers and dependent parties (such as banks, insurers, lawyers, estate agents, etc.). This gave us unique insights into what the points of conflict and synergy are between key stakeholders and fueled the creation of some key features for Magic.

The hardest part was taking such a complex problem and packaging it into a simple, comprehensive story that would resonate with businesses and people.

Identity is above all a social problem. So taking the right stakeholders on the journey is vital,” he explains, adding that as technology – and in particular creative AI and deepfakes – develops rapidly, it’s inevitable that there will be more data breaches and impersonation scams.

Static passport photos, which expose too much identity data and say nothing about who we really are, cannot be the answer to protecting our digital privacy in the IT age.

Will the funding of 300,000 pounds be used for expansion in Greece? “For operational reasons, Greece is not in our immediate plans, but we already have Greek startups in our customer base for Q1 and Q2 2024.

In fact, we offer preferential terms to companies that have been established in Greece as a sign of our support” concludes Thanasis Mandaltsis.