Hancom Makes Strategic Investment in Spanish AI Biometric Company 'FacePhi'

Hancom announced on the 25th that it will make a strategic investment in the Spanish AI biometric company 'FacePhi'. Through the investment agreement, Hancom will invest in FacePhi's shares and secure exclusive business rights in the APAC region for FacePhi.

Kim Yeon-su, CEO of Hancom (left), and Javier Facepi, CEO of Facepi (right), are signing an investment agreement and taking a commemorative photo. [Photo by Hancom]

FacePhi, simultaneously listed on the Spanish and French stock exchanges, possesses various AI-based biometric technologies necessary for biometric authentication, including facial, fingerprint, iris, and voice recognition. The company operates primarily in Europe and Latin America and has secured numerous financial institutions as clients in Korea as well.

FacePhi holds passive technology, which has emerged as the next-generation technology for facial recognition, rather than the widely used active method (where a person moves their face to authenticate themselves), which is crucial for fake detection performance in facial recognition technology. In 2022, FacePhi achieved i-beta Level 2 certification from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which guarantees fake detection performance in facial recognition technology. Only nine companies worldwide have passive i-beta Level 2 certification.

Through this investment, Hancom will become the second-largest shareholder of FacePhi. The strategy is to establish a foothold in the global AI market by selling FacePhi's solutions under the Hancom brand in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region through a white-labeling approach. It is expected that synergy can be created by combining FacePhi's multi-modal biometric recognition technology with Hancom's AI, Hancom With's security technology, Clipsoft's reporting tools, and Hancom Carelink's healthcare services.

Kim Yeon-su, CEO of Hancom, stated, "Through this investment, we will expand Hancom's AI business area and expect overseas sales by supplying FacePhi solutions, productized and branded by Hancom, throughout the Asia-Pacific region." He emphasized, "We will continue to actively pursue cooperation, investment, and acquisitions with capable AI companies to lead the AI market."