Blockchain ID management firm Trusted Key bought by Workday – FinTech Futures
Trusted Key acquired by Workday
Seattle, Washington-based Trusted Key will bring its blockchain-based, digital identity management technology to Workday, courtesy of a recently-announced acquisition, reports David Penn at Finovate.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“With our new platform, Workday wants to bring credentials into the digital age,” says Workday SVP Jon Ruggiero. He highlights the way that blockchain technology can help create “a new form of digital credential – one that puts individuals in control of their data, and is portable, authentic, and secure”.
Trusted Key’s digital identity management technology enables financial institutions to leverage credentialisation and tokenisation to provide a more seamless and secure authentication experience for users. The platform uses strong cryptography and blockchain technology to convert government-issued identity documents into secure, cryptographic credentials and tokens. These tokens can be used to securely establish identity to access both online assets as well as mobile apps, without relying on passwords. The credentials can also be used to authorise transactions and make digital signatures.
A cloud core financial management suite provider, Workday, will use blockchain-powered credentialing technology to help companies improve their HR operations to more efficiently verify applicant skills and qualifications, as well as to onboard new workers. As Ruggiero notes, digital credentialing does more than just alleviate an otherwise time-consuming, error-prone manual process. It also makes it easier for firms to respond to a changing workforce that is both “more mobile, distributed, and diverse”, and helps companies in tight labor markets move faster and with less friction to attract and onboard their preferred candidates.
Launched in 2005 and headquartered in Pleasanton, California, Workday’s customers range from Bank of America and Thomson Reuters to Netflix and Denny’s. Workday says it has processed more than 100 million credentials and 70 million job applications – as well as employment records, certifications, licenses, and more. The publicly-traded company is listed on the Nasdaq and has a market capitalisation of $48 billion. Aneel Bhusri is co-founder and CEO.
Founded in 2016 by Prakash Sundaresan and Amit Mital, Trusted Key picked up $3 million funding last spring. The round, led by Founders Co-Op, took the company’s total equity financing to more than $4 million. Trusted Key is the first exit for Kernel Labs, a Seattle start-up studio with a focus on machine learning, computer vision, and security.
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