Hopae, maker of one of the world’s most advanced digital identity solutions, announced it has secured $6.5 million in funding as the company introduces its proprietary, patented Digital Credential eXpress (DCX) architecture to the U.S. This solution simplifies the complex world of decentralized ID (DID) implementation, according to the company.
Hopae helps governments and institutions issue reusable, privacy-preserving, and unforgeable digital IDs and credentials. Its expansion and funding news comes as companies seek to comply with new international digital identity regulations.
Hopae’s funding, totaling $6.5 million, includes $4.3 million in seed round from investors led by SV Investment, with participation from Z Venture Capital, Bon Angels Venture Partners, along with $2.2 million in debt financing from Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT).
These funds will be used to establish Hopae’s U.S. headquarters, expand across Europe, and solidify strategic partnerships for age and identity verification. Hopae also plans to aggressively hire across its Seoul and Paris offices and establish its new U.S. base in San Francisco to secure the talent needed to rapidly scale as it prepares to provide an ideal solution for the European Union’s (EU) new comprehensive framework for digital identity.
Known as the eIDAS 2.0 Regulation, the EU’s measure aims to create a secure, user-friendly, and interoperable digital identity system across all member states. The goal is for at least 80% of EU citizens to use the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet by 2030.
Widespread adoption is expected to bolster trust in digital transactions and facilitate smoother cross-border activities, enabling citizens and businesses to engage more confidently in the digital market.
Hopae fits into this vision by making the open-source building blocks for such digital wallets. It is expected to play a prominent role in their acceptance and success.
“Traditional methods of identification no longer make sense. Aside from being cumbersome, they simply do not meet modern privacy and security needs,” said Ace Shim, co-founder and CEO of Hopae. “Although eIDAS 2.0 represents a driving force for the adoption of Hopae’s technology, it is clear that this is a necessity for everyone from enterprises that seek to conduct international business to the shops that want to sell goods like alcohol online. Hopae is at the forefront of a paradigm shift, and we are excited to bring DCX to the U.S.”
At its core, Hopae’s DCX architecture utilizes blockchain technology, ensuring the highest levels of security and integrity for digital credentials. The design philosophy behind DCX prioritizes user control over personal data, making it the perfect solution for a variety of applications, from government services to private sector identity verification needs.
Its flexibility and adherence to global standards underscores the versatility of this forward-thinking solution. The DCX system is lightweight, scalable, and capable of handling high traffic volumes while ensuring interoperability and data privacy.
Additionally, because DCX divides blockchain nodes by role, it is 2x faster than other options with 10x faster blockchain operation, according to the company.
For more information about this news, visit www.hopae.com.