ID-Pal has raised €1 million (roughly US$1.17 million) to expand its biometric facial recognition services to more small and medium-sized businesses, The Irish Times writes. The funding round was led by Act Venture Capital, with participation from a number of private investors. The company plans to invest in all business areas as it works to expand internationally. ID-Pal Founder and CEO Colum Lyons says the company aims to provide an easy yet trustworthy process for end-users to identify themselves to businesses. End-users submit ID document photos and biometric selfies through the ID-Pal interface, and 93 percent are verified in real-time, according to the company website. The identity checks comply with know your customer (KYC) and anti money-laundering (AML) regulations. “Our initial approach was to focus on the SME space to bring complex, expensive technology at a price they could afford,” Lyons comments, according to the Times. “We successfully achieved this with small mortgage brokers and legal and accountancy firms getting access to facial recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence within one platform at a fraction of what it would usually cost. Our success in this has latterly led to us being recognised by larger players.” The company’s clients include payment providers and a gift card company. ID-Pal was shortlisted for an “emerging company of the year” award from the Technology Ireland competition, and is one of 14 companies from across Europe chosen for Salesforce Venture’s EMEA Accelerate virtual incubator. Zenus raises $1.2M for ethical facial analysis Austin-based Zenus, which claims to provide ethical facial analysis, has raised $1.195 million in a funding round dating back to 2017, according to a Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Zenus was founded in 2015, and provides audience tracking, facial recognition, and custom solutions. The company initially focused on applications for events, and has expanded its offerings to include visitor management, access control, and time and attendance tracking. Zenus says its facial recognition technology provides contactless identification from a distance of six feet in less than a second. The investors in the funding round were not named, though Zenus’ website lists Capital Factory, Rice University, Baner Investments, and Frontera Technology Ventures as backers.