We are also planning big to take our products/service global and are working with Mastercard and other partners to come up with a road map ongoing global.
Tell us about Syntizen. When and how did you come up with the idea of starting Syntizen?
Syntizen is a digital identity start-up founded in 2014. Through our variety of products, we help organizations/governments identify people before they offer any kind of service/subsidy. Some of our products include e-COS (Electronic Customer On-boarding System), Video KYC, Aadhaar Masking, Subsidy Management System, etc. We are currently working with 5 state governments (Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha) and have about 25+ clients in the BFSI Sector (DCB Bank, DBS Bank, Fincare Small Finance Bank, Muthoot Fincorp, Manappuram Finance, Shriram Group, SBI General Life Insurance, etc). Our digital identity engines perform about 5-6 Million transactions on a daily basis for all our clients put together.
The concept of matching fingerprint was one of the projects taken up by us during our engineering days. Keeping that as a base, we wanted to develop a product that can match and instantly identify a person. The idea of Aadhaar & its biometric data excited us to evaluate further and hence we got the idea to develop our product. Once the idea was there, we presented the same to Muthoot Fincorp, which is our first client for Digital Identification. The idea slowly grew into a big problem-solving tool (The solution helped save lot of time and money) for multiple organizations and later we explored the possibility of offering such solutions to the governments.
What has been the biggest challenge for you so far?
Initially we believe scaling up was the biggest challenge. While we started, we had a dream to clock 1 Lakh transactions per day, we were scared on how our engines would handle an increasing load. However, the technology team, headed by my co-founder Vamsi, was ready for the challenge. The systems are vertically and horizontally scalable and we are now handling about five to six Million hits per day without any problem. The system is now ready to handle any volumes and this is also one of our main USP’s.
Apart from scaling up, we had initial problems in getting a team with the expertise on Biometrics with Aadhaar expertise. However, we now have one of the best teams with the Aadhaar knowledge and their compliances/guidelines.
Shed some light on the brand’s offerings? What is the USP of the brand?
Syntizen is a one stop solution for all the digital identity needs of an organization. We offer multiple solutions that help solve important processes for an organization by making them 100% digital. Apart from being a one stop solution, we ensure that our solutions are 100% compliant and secure. Our solutions have been audited by the best firms for various clients of ours. Apart from the above, we have a scalable system which is the need of the hour.
Who is your target audience? And how do you plan to reach them?
Currently, we are targeting the BFSI Sector and State Governments in India. With a positive word of mouth we are getting referred to by our existing clients. However, we are making efforts to reach out to BFSI through various social media and other marketing channels.
What was your inspiration behind this venture?
The inspiration behind us starting the company was very simple – We didn’t want to be like the majority but wanted to be our own bosses. With this intention, we started the organization and it took real hard work to get to where we are today. We are also grateful for the continuous support we have received from our family members and closest of friends to keep continuing what we wanted to do and helping us in achieving our goals.
Who are Syntizen’s clients for Aadhaar services? Syntizen’s Aadhaar services are being utilized by whom?
Our Aadhaar Services are being used by BFSI and Governments. In the governments, our services are being used by Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh state Governments. In the BFSI domain, we have DCB Bank, Fincare Small Finance Bank, Muthoot Fincorp, Manappuram Finance, Shriram Group, SBI General Life Insurance, Aviva Life Insurance, Indiashelters Housing Finance, SE Investments (Paisa Lo), Angel Broking, etc.
How many transactions Syntizen do per day using their Aadhaar Services?
We clock about 5-6 Million transactions per day on an average for all our clients put together.
How will Syntizen help NBFCs in their authorisation process?
Syntizen’s solution help NBFC’s in identifying citizens. We have a variety of services like e-KYC, e-Sign, Facial Matching, Facial Liveness, Document + Face Match, Document + Face Liveness + Face Match, Aadhaar Masking, etc. These services are integrated into the clients (NBFC’s) front end application where they use services on need basis their eligibility. Apart from services, we offer two products for NBFC’s which do not want to consume separate services but need the entire product. They are e-COS (Electronic Customer On-boarding System) and Video KYC. Currently, about 25+ BFSI Sector companies are using our services/products.
Tell us about your funding and expansion plans
Syntizen is looking forward for raising a Series A round soon. The idea is to look for a strategic investor who can also help us grow. Regarding growth, we are in the process of making our products ready for the global market apart from expanding our client base in India. Syntizen has already received a Pre-Series A round of funding from Mastercard International and ACPL, which were strategic investments.
How much growth has the brand witnessed since its inception and what is the expected growth in the coming years?
I would like to take this question on the number of transactions performed by our engines. Initially, in the first two years of our inception, we were hitting about 2 Lakh transactions per day. Currently, we are performing about 6 Million transactions per day. Our target is to enhance the number of transactions to 10 Million hits per day in the next 12-15 months.
How do Syntizen’s products benefit brands?
To put it in simple words, Our products ease a lot of process and effort for our clients. Our solutions have saved more than 90% of customer on-boarding cost and has reduced time to on-board a customer by 90%. Our solutions also help us clients go completely digital.
Share some details about your clients and partners?
Clients :- Government – Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha
BFSI – Muthoot Fincorp, Manappuram Finance, DCB Bank, DBS Bank, Fincare Small Finance Bank, Shriram Group, India Shelters, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Angel Broking, SBI General Life Insurance, Aviva Life Insurance, Reliance Securities, etc
Partners – Mastercard, ACPL, Samsung, Tech5, Visiontek, etc.
What new things do you have to offer in 2022?
We have launched Video KYC for governments in Odisha government in the month of December 2021. This system is the first in India where the government provides Life Certificates for pensioners. This system can be availed by the pensioners sitting at home and Odisha is the first government in India to offer Video KYC for Life Certificate which is powered by Aadhaar Verification.
We are also looking forward to offer this product to other departments in Odisha and also to other state governments.
On the private sector front, we are helping clients (BFSI) to perform Aadhaar Masking and be 100% compliant as per Supreme Court and UIDAI compliances.
We are also planning big to take our products/service global and are working with Mastercard and other partners to come up with a road map ongoing global.
What are you doing to strengthen your brand’s presence in India or overseas or increase your client base?
To be really frank, we have not made much noise about the kind of work that we have done. We are now in the process of showcasing “Syntizen – The Digital Identity Provider”. As far as increasing the client base is concerned, we are reaching out to maximum number of clients in the BFSI sector through appropriate Social Media platforms. For the governments, we had planned to visit multiple states but this third wave is stopping us from frequent travel.
Source: Business World
