Beyond Background Checks: TransCrypts Raises $15M to Fix Credential Verification
TransCrypts is a blockchain-powered platform that automates the management and verification of digital documents, including employment and income verification.
TransCrypts, the blockchain-based data verification startup founded by Zain Zaidi and Ali Zaheer, has raised a $15 million seed round led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Techstars, Mark Cuban, and others. The company, which came out of the Filecoin Techstars Accelerator in 2022, is building a platform that challenges the inefficiencies of traditional background checks.
Instead of relying on third-party verification services, TransCrypts empowers individuals to store and share encrypted credentials—such as employment records, academic histories, and health data—on a decentralized system. Each record is hashed to the blockchain, and users control who has access by sharing private keys on a case-by-case basis.
“We view the background check as an outdated mechanism of the 20th century,” said Zaidi. “They are inefficient, take a long time, and cost a lot of money. And more often than not, they’re inaccurate.”
TransCrypts has already achieved HIPAA certification and is expanding into health and education records, aiming to return control of sensitive information to consumers. This milestone signals a broader shift in how individuals can manage and verify personal data in a trustless, secure way—no middlemen required.
As Web3 infrastructure matures, TransCrypts is making the case that blockchain doesn’t just belong in crypto wallets or supply chains—it may be the future of how we prove who we are.
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