Onfido, an online background check firm aimed at the ‘sharing economy’, raised USD 25 million (€22.1 million) in a series B funding round. The London-based company announced the funding in a blog post last week.

“Background checking isn’t new — what has changed is business”, said Husayn Kassai, CEO and co-founder. “Legacy background checks — manual and dependent on a face-to-face meeting — worked for an offline world. Today, online companies need a new system that works instantly and remotely”.

Onfido’s customers include human cloud firms Work Market, a freelancer management system provider; Handy.com, a US-based online platform that connects house cleaners to customers; and BlaBlaCar, a UK-based long-distance ridesharing platform. Human cloud is part of the larger contingent work ecosystem covered by Staffing Industry Analysts.

Onfido has more than 1,000 clients and has offices in London and San Francisco.

“Powered by machine-learning, we have built a product that allows businesses to accurately verify the identity of anyone in the world — a driver in Delhi, a cleaner in Berlin, a host in New York — within seconds”, said Husayn Kassai, CEO and co-founder. “Only when the identity has been verified do we run further searches such as criminal or anti-money laundering checks”.

The company was founded in 2012 and has received more than $30 million in funding. The series B funding round included Idinvest Partners, Wellington Partners and CrunchFund.