Onboard ID is a decentralised digital identity and credential infrastructure for secure data transfer. Users only have to undergo the usual Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process for the first time, where afterwards they will receive cryptographic digital credentials that prove that they have been KYC-ed. It is a privacy-centric solution as the users are in control of whom they want to share the credentials with, and what information in the credentials should be shared. With Onboard ID, we help businesses streamline the onboarding process of their customers and reduce cost.
The use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) provides interoperability to the digital identity solution. With DLT, we are able to create an ecosystem where multiple authorised identity providers are able to issue digital credentials. A digital credential can be reused across different services as long as the verifiers trust the issuers. Onboard ID provides REST API calls to issuers and verifiers, therefore it can be easily integrated into existing systems.
The inspiration to start the business stems from our own poor customer experiences when trying to verify our identities in order to access services. As a user, we have to repeat the same identity verification process when accessing different services. The entire process is lengthy and repetitive. Centralised digital identity solutions such as Google Login addresses these pain points, however due to privacy concerns, they are not widely adopted in safety-critical industries such as the financial and healthcare sectors. Thus, we are motivated to build a product that provides both convenience and privacy, where users are always in control of their own data and could easily use the digital credential to access different services.
Kai Jun Eer is the founder of Onboard ID. He is a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, where his research is in the area of blockchain and privacy, particularly in digital identity. His domain expertise in Web3 has resulted in securing research grants from the Edinburgh Future Institute and winning multiple global hackathons. He has a solid technical background with product management experience, where he was previously the Scrum master for a startup. His experience in building and managing technological products have led him to founding Onboard ID.
Yasshootha Supramaniam is the business development manager in the team. She has experience devising business strategy as part of her previous role as a corporate consultant. She is also a digital marketer, where she handled the digital content strategy when working in an e-commerce startup, leading to an average of 50% growth on customer visits for seven consecutive months.
