FaceFirst
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
FaceFirst firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- FaceFirst
- Legal name
- FaceFirst, Inc.
- Website
- https://facefirst.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
FaceFirst industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Facial recognition software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Facial Recognition & Biometrics (HDAAAEAC)
Keywords
Where FaceFirst is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
FaceFirst business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SaaS Facial Recognition Platform: FaceFirst operates as a SaaS-based visual intelligence platform providing subscription-based facial recognition software. The platform is deployed for enterprise customers including retailers, airports, casinos, and stadiums. Revenue is generated through software licensing, implementation services, and ongoing support subscriptions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise Custom Pricing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
FaceFirst product offering
Product offeringCore offering
FaceFirst sells a patented face matching software platform that uses proprietary AI algorithms, neural networks, and deep machine learning to perform real-time biometric identification against customer watchlists via existing camera infrastructure. The platform delivers real-time alerts, forensic video search, and threat intelligence sharing for enterprise customers including large retailers, airports, casinos, stadiums, hospitals, and shipping and distribution centers. Offerings are delivered as subscription-based SaaS with implementation services, available via direct enterprise sales and through Gatekeeper Systems' distribution network.
Product overview
FaceFirst is a face matching software company that offers a patented video analytics platform for retailers, airports, events, casinos, and other environments. The core FaceFirst Platform provides real-time facial recognition and matching capabilities, augmented by specialized solutions including FaceFirst Search Investigation Advantage for forensic video analysis and FaceFirst Touch for mobile deployment. The platform leverages AI and human oversight to prevent violence, theft, and fraud across industries including retail, airports, stadiums, arenas, and casinos.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- FaceFirst Touch: A new mobile experience launched as part of FaceFirst's platform enhancements integrating a top-ranked algorithm from ROC.
Products and services
- FaceFirst Platform Patented face matching software platform that leverages proprietary AI algorithms, neural networks, and deep machine learning to identify persons of interest in real time against customer watchlists using existing camera infrastructure. Designed for enterprise customers in retail, airports, casinos, stadiums, hospitals, and shipping and distribution centers to prevent violence, theft, and fraud.
- FaceFirst Search Investigation Advantage Forensic video search tool that, after enrolling a known offender in a customer's custom database, finds every recent instance of that person entering all locations. Reduces investigation time from weeks to minutes, calculates past losses, and produces date/time stamped evidence packaged for law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.
- FaceFirst Touch Mobile experience for the FaceFirst retail facial recognition platform that integrates ROC's top-ranked algorithm with NIST-validated accuracy while maintaining privacy and governance standards, providing real-time alerts and mobile face recognition capabilities.
- Sentinel-IQ Retail surveillance solution with face matching capabilities for crime prevention, offering more flexible deployment options and reducing infrastructure cost by 80% compared with prior deployments.
Quantifiable outcome
- 91% reduction in violent incidents reported by retailers using facial recognition
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use FaceFirst
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
FaceFirst technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability5 records
Feature8 records
FaceFirst partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- ROCcoreGatekeeper Systems (FaceFirst parent) announced strategic partnership with ROC in March 2026. The partnership integrates ROC's top-ranked algorithm into the FaceFirst retail facial recognition platform, providing NIST-validated accuracy while maintaining privacy and governance standards. Also includes launch of FaceFirst Touch mobile experience.
- Gatekeeper SystemsflagshipFaceFirst completed merger with Gatekeeper Systems on February 4, 2025. Austin-based FaceFirst, Inc. became a subsidiary of Gatekeeper Systems, Inc., headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California. Robert Harling leads the merged company as CEO. FaceFirst Chairman and CEO Dan Merkle resigned and will support the transition as independent advisor. FaceFirst President Dara Riordan retained leadership role as Senior Vice President of Business Development for the combined company. The merger combines FaceFirst's face matching technology with Gatekeeper's loss prevention solutions serving 58 countries.
- Genetec Inc.coreFaceFirst and Genetec announced strategic alliance in September 2018. FaceFirst's biometric algorithms integrate with Genetec Security Center, enabling Genetec customers to benefit from facial recognition capabilities through their unified IP security platform. Integration provides real-time alerting, automatic synchronization with watchlists, actionable analytics, and simplified investigations.
- The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF)minorFaceFirst partnered with The Loss Prevention Foundation to add biometric privacy and compliance content to LPF's LPQualified and LPCertified certification programs for loss prevention leaders. Content covers responsible biometric data handling, purging, human verification, encryption, face redaction, and privacy concepts.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
FaceFirst competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Oosto (formerly AnyVision): Oosto provides AI-based facial recognition and video analytics solutions specifically targeting retail loss prevention, casinos, and public safety—the same verticals FaceFirst serves. It is the closest head-to-head competitor in retail-focused face matching.
- Cognitec Systems: Cognitec develops FaceVACS facial recognition technology for border control, law enforcement, and commercial applications. It directly competes in the same biometric matching category with comparable accuracy claims and government-grade deployments.
- BriefCam: BriefCam offers video analytics and facial recognition for security and operational efficiency, with strong retail and enterprise deployments. It integrates with Genetec (a FaceFirst partner) and competes directly in video analytics-driven security use cases.
- Kairos: Kairos provides facial recognition APIs and tools for identity verification, with ethical positioning similar to FaceFirst's privacy-by-design narrative. It serves comparable enterprise and developer customers with cloud-delivered face matching.
- Everseen: Everseen provides AI-based visual analytics for retail loss prevention at self-checkout, with deployments at major retailers including The Home Depot (a former employer of FaceFirst VP Product Mike Wiley). It is a key competitor in retail shrink reduction where FaceFirst also competes.
Broad incumbents
- NEC Corporation (NeoFace): NEC's NeoFace platform is one of the most widely deployed facial recognition systems globally, used by airports, law enforcement, and large enterprises. While not retail-specialized, NEC competes with FaceFirst in airports and public safety verticals with NIST-validated accuracy.
- Idemia (now IDEMIA Identity & Security USA): Idemia is a global leader in biometric identity solutions, including facial recognition for airports, borders, and public security. It competes with FaceFirst in the airport and law enforcement segments with substantially greater resources and installed base.
- Amazon Rekognition: Amazon Rekognition offers cloud-based facial analysis and recognition as part of the AWS ecosystem. While not retail-specialized, its pricing power and integration with the broader AWS security stack represent a long-term competitive threat to standalone platforms like FaceFirst.
Emerging players
- Clearview AI: Clearview AI provides facial recognition search against a large database of public images, primarily serving law enforcement. While its use case is more investigative than real-time retail matching, it represents an alternative approach for the same underlying biometric matching problem.
- Vintra: Vintra delivers AI-powered video analytics and facial recognition solutions for enterprise security and corporate safety use cases. It competes in adjacent enterprise verticals with overlapping face matching and behavioral analytics capabilities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
FaceFirst social profiles
Digital presenceFaceFirst financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
FaceFirst leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
FaceFirst funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
FaceFirst M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about FaceFirst
What does FaceFirst do?
FaceFirst sells a patented face matching software platform that uses proprietary AI algorithms, neural networks, and deep machine learning to perform real-time biometric identification against customer watchlists via existing camera infrastructure. The platform delivers real-time alerts, forensic video search, and threat intelligence sharing for enterprise customers including large retailers, airports, casinos, stadiums, hospitals, and shipping and distribution centers. Offerings are delivered as subscription-based SaaS with implementation services, available via direct enterprise sales and through Gatekeeper Systems' distribution network.
Is FaceFirst a public or private company?
FaceFirst is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was FaceFirst founded?
FaceFirst was founded in 2017. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is FaceFirst based?
FaceFirst is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does FaceFirst make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Facial Recognition Platform.
Who are FaceFirst's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Oosto (formerly AnyVision), Cognitec Systems, BriefCam, Kairos and Everseen. Broad incumbents are NEC Corporation (NeoFace), Idemia (now IDEMIA Identity & Security USA) and Amazon Rekognition. Emerging players are Clearview AI and Vintra.
Does FaceFirst have an API?
Yes. FaceFirst offers a robust API and SDK for integration into various systems and platforms. The FaceFirst platform enables a range of surveillance and customer engagement benefits using mobile, access control, and desktop forensic face recognition capabilities.
What industry is FaceFirst in?
FaceFirst's product category is Facial recognition software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAEAC, Facial Recognition & Biometrics. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.