Founders Everywhere: Mark Straub
Mark Straub is the co-founder & CEO of Smile ID, the leading provider of identity verification, user onboarding, and real-time digital KYC solutions in Africa.
Few founders have spent nearly two decades operating at the intersection of emerging markets, financial inclusion, and identity infrastructure. But Mark Straub, co-founder & CEO of Smile ID, first met Scott Hartley (partner at Everywhere VC) at the intersection of two emerging economies on the India - Pakistan border watching the closing ceremony at the Wagah Gate. Years later that friendship rekindled when Everywhere VC backed Smile ID as part of their Series B.
Over the last decade Smile ID has become one of the most important pieces of digital infrastructure on the African continent. Every time a customer uses their face to open a bank account, approve a payment, or log in securely to their mobile wallet, that’s part of the KYC (Know Your Customer) process in action.
In Africa, completing KYC has been a frustrating challenge because identity systems are fragmented, databases are hard to access, and there are technological limitations, like basic devices and unreliable internet. Smile ID began solving this problem in 2017 and has become a category leader in Africa by creating a seamless, secure way to verify identities remotely across the continent. Using biometrics, computer vision, and connections to multiple national ID databases, Smile ID makes KYC faster, more reliable, and widely accessible. This helps people access the financial services they need while keeping their data safe. By partnering with leading banks and fintechs, Smile ID is turning secure identity verification into a gateway for economic opportunity.
Mark began his career as an analyst providing corporate finance and M&A advisory to public and private technology companies. He then moved into microfinance investing in India and later transitioned into venture capital, becoming a partner at an impact-focused investment firm supporting socially-minded startups in emerging economies. Although he studied business and finance, his interests have always leaned toward international relations and economic development. Through Smile ID, he combines his skills and passion to expand financial inclusion by improving identity verification infrastructure.
At its core, Smile ID increases the conversion rates for online services, enabling millions of people to prove their identity quickly, accessing a modern digital lifestyle, including loans, bank accounts, cryptocurrency, credit, working capital, remittances, and ride-sharing services.
What’s the origin story of Smile ID?
Earlier in my career, I spent a lot of time in India and saw financial services remain stagnant for nearly a decade. Around 2015, a new system called “India Stack” emerged, built by talented and civically minded alums from India’s top software firms. It combined national ID infrastructure, a national payments interface, and the ability to do a remote KYC. I saw a complete transformation almost overnight. Startups could now build services to move money across the country instantly, at near zero cost. Then while traveling from Mumbai to Nairobi for board meetings with some fast-growing African fintechs I was invested in, I noticed they were starting to face serious fraud challenges. The growth and demand for services was there, but the tools for solving identity were not. I thought, “If only Africa had something like India Stack—but it would need to work across 54 countries, not just one.” This meant it couldn’t rely on a single government and would need to integrate and aggregate various identity verification systems across multiple African countries. That was the original kernel for Smile ID.
What’s Smile ID’s North Star?
We want to make it easy for anyone, anywhere, to prove their identity, regardless of what ID card they have or what country they’re in. We believe everyone deserves a seamless path to a modern digital lifestyle.
Tell us about some recent milestones that Smile ID has crushed.
We operate in 25+ African countries
We’re connected to 30+ national ID databases across nine markets
We have coverage of ~700 million unique identities
We process 10–15 million identity verifications per month (over half using biometrics)
We initially focused solely on onboarding, but authentication use cases (logins, device changes, and password updates) have expanded significantly and now represent an increasingly large share of our traffic.
What sets Smile ID apart?
What makes us different is how we’ve engineered our platform from the beginning. Our modular products adapt to each country’s needs. We built Smile ID to work in the toughest environments, including on low-end devices, with unreliable internet, challenging lighting, and with different demographics. Despite these hurdles, we consistently deliver high pass rates for KYC and identity verification. Many global companies turn to us when their existing KYC providers deliver poor conversion rates in certain markets. By improving the user experience, handling tough environmental conditions, and leveraging our deep integrations with local ID authorities, we’re able to deliver significantly better outcomes.
How does Smile ID inspire “customer love”?
We grew out of the fintech boom in Africa, becoming widely used by fintechs in markets like Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Sudan, and beyond. Over the last two years, we’ve expanded to serve traditional banks, insurance companies, and just recently, we partnered with Mastercard to reach hundreds of banks across the continent. Our clients trust us because of the results we deliver. We’re the team they know will always pick up the phone, solve complex problems, and genuinely care about their success.
Fun Fact:
I played saxophone for about ten years growing up and was really involved in politics and policy in high school. When I was 17 I met President Clinton at the White House, and I have a photo of us shaking hands. My parents keep it in the room where I used to practice saxophone.
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