Fraud protection firm CertifID raises Series A funds

Wire fraud prevention technology CertifID has completed a Series A funding round, adding $12.5 million in capital from Arthur Ventures.

CertifID was founded in 2017 by Thomas Cronkright, Lawrence Duthler and Tyler Adams. Cronkright and Duthler also own Sun Title Agency, which was victimized in a 2015 wire fraud scheme that cost the company nearly $200,000.

"This investment will enable us to significantly expand our reach as we look to protect every real estate transaction," said Adams, CertifID's CEO, in a press release. "With the backing of Arthur Ventures, we'll be able to double down on hiring and retaining exceptional talent that is passionate about building industry-leading technology to protect businesses and unsuspecting home-buyers from fraud."

CertifID validates the parties in a real estate transaction, including the seller, the buyer and the settlement services providers. Fraudsters have used intercepted email communications and then turned around to divert wire transfer funds from going to the proper party.

Business email compromise scams resulted in adjusted losses of $2.4 billion in 2021, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

"CertifID is tackling the biggest threat to the real estate industry," Patrick Meenan, general partner with Arthur Ventures, said in the press release. "They have developed a unique suite of products to prevent fraud and a rapid response recovery team to support businesses and consumers who experience a loss."

Other mortgage-related investments from Arthur Ventures include Total Expert and OptiFunder, a provider of warehouse management technology. Last August, Arthur Ventures funded a $12.5 million Series A round for Candor Technology, which has a mortgage underwriting platform.

In January 2018, CertifID did a $1 million seed round funded by Wakestream Ventures. It added funds from two subsequent convertible notes totaling $2.85 million, according to Crunchbase.

The new funding will be used for technology development in addition to sales and marketing, but having the right talent to do that is the important thing, Adams added.

CertifID is working on technology designed to provide protection for the transfer of loan payoff funds, Adams said, part of that "chipping away" to provide services to shield the different parts of the real estate transaction.

"Our team of incredibly talented people has seen firsthand the devastating impact of wire fraud, which drives everyone to work to prevent it," Cronkright, CertifID's executive chairman, said in the press release. "We look forward to continuing to dedicate ourselves towards a world where businesses and consumers can make electronic payments without the fear of loss."