Evernym, a foundational company in the self sovereign identity movement, has been acquired by cybersecurity firm Avast. The identity startup is best known as the partner in IATA’s TravelPass for COVID health credentials, but it’s also behind several other high profile initiatives. For example, it contributed the initial open source code to Hyperledger Indy, which underpins the Sovrin network.
Avast claims over 435 million online users and plans to roll out products based on Evernym technology in 2022. The acquisition is expected to close mid-December, but no deal terms were announced. The company raised a seed round of $8.5 million in 2017 and an $8 million Series A in 2019, including backing from Barclays.
If a company with Avast’s reach plans to provide the technology, this could be a breakthrough moment for decentralized identity. Several other companies have adopted the terminology, but unlike Evernym, they haven’t always been true to the principles of genuinely guarding individual privacy.
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