What Kairos does

Kairos (legal entity Kairos AR, Inc.) is a Miami, US-based, privately held AI company founded in 2012 that builds facial recognition and identity verification software delivered primarily as APIs to developers and enterprises. Its platform offers five modular capabilities: Instant Identity Verification (a unified ID scan + biometric selfie + liveness + fraud check workflow), ID Document Verification (covering 4,000+ global ID types), Face Liveness Verification (passive, selfie-based anti-spoofing and deepfake/screen detection), Biometric Verification (face search against watchlists and prior onboarding sessions), and Age Verification (selfie-based age estimation). The underlying technology is built 100% in-house on deep learning, Convolutional Neural Networks, and GAN-based synthetic data generation, with a bias-mitigation design principle reinforced through a strategic partnership with Untangle for AI auditing. The team is led by interim CEO Melissa Doval and Chief Scientist Dr. Stephen Moore.

Kairos monetizes through a freemium, usage-based API model with 100 free calls and self-serve signup, usage-based pricing beyond the free tier, and custom-priced on-premise enterprise licensing for multi-year deployments. Go-to-market is developer-first (PLG) with multi-language SDK support across Python, Node.js, Ruby, PHP, Java, and C#, supplemented by direct sales for enterprise contracts. Its stated customer base exceeds 1,000 global businesses across verticals including financial services and fintech, online gaming, adult entertainment, controlled substances delivery, hotels and vacation rentals, micromobility, and online dating, with named logos including Ubanx, IPG, Veritone, Legendary, Vidigami, and Sonar. The company reports over 1 billion lifetime verifications processed.

The firm remains small (11-50 employees) and has been funded modestly, with disclosed rounds from Kapor Capital (2014) and CSC Upshot (2016). Key strategic history includes the 2018 acquisition of EmotionReader and the 2019-2020 rebuild of its recognition stack to fully in-house architecture. Certifications include historical EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield registrations (subsequently invalidated by the Schrems II ruling), with intra-group data transfer agreements cited as the current alternative mechanism. The company has no subsidiaries, no disclosed parent, and no public ownership structure.

Name

Kairos

Legal name

Kairos AR, Inc.

Website

https://kairos.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kairos is a Miami-based AI company that provides facial recognition and identity verification APIs — covering ID document checks, liveness, biometric matching, and age estimation — to developers and enterprises across fintech, gaming, dating, and regulated consumer verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Identity Verification Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Fraud Prevention & Identity Verification (IDV/KYC) (BPAMAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Identity Verification & Proofing (IDV, KYC, Biometrics) (HDADAAAF), Identity Verification, Proofing & KYC (IDV) (HDAEAJAI)

Keywords

• Face recognition API
• Identity verification software
• Biometric authentication
• Liveness detection technology
• KYC compliance solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. API Usage-Based Pricing: Cloud-hosted API service with usage-based pricing. Offers free account with access to full suite of features. Two implementation options: API hosted by Kairos or on-premise deployment.
2. On-Premise Licensing: Enterprise on-premise deployment option for customers requiring data to stay on their own servers. Custom pricing based on volume and requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kairos provides an AI-powered identity verification and facial recognition platform delivered primarily as a public REST API. The platform combines ID document authentication, biometric selfie matching, passive liveness detection, fraud database screening, and age estimation into modular capabilities usable individually or as an end-to-end Instant Identity Verification flow. Customers include developers and enterprises in financial services, online gaming, adult entertainment, controlled-substance delivery, hotels, micromobility, and online dating, with deployment available as a hosted cloud API or on-premise.

Product overview

Kairos offers a unified identity verification platform with five core modular capabilities. The flagship Instant Identity Verification combines all verification steps (ID scan, biometric selfie match, fraud checks, and liveness check) into a single operation. Surrounding this core are four specialized verification modules: ID Document Verification (authenticates 4000+ global IDs and detects forgeries), Face Liveness Verification (passive selfie-based spoofing detection), Biometric Verification (face search against fraudster databases), and Age Verification (selfie-based age estimation). All capabilities are delivered via a public API with SDK support for Python, Node.js, Ruby, PHP, Java, C#, and other languages. The Kairos App serves as a mobile demonstration interface for testing the APIs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Instant Identity Verification End-to-end identity verification solution that combines ID document scanning, dynamic biometric selfie comparison against the photo ID, thorough fraud checks, and real-time passive liveness verification in a single automated operation. Designed for developers and businesses that need to verify user identity, reduce onboarding drop-off, and deter fraud.
• ID Document Verification AI-driven document authentication service that scans text, machine-readable zones (MRZs), and security features on government-issued IDs from around the world to detect falsified or tampered documents. Supports 4000+ ID types from a single photo and is intended for any business performing KYC, customer onboarding, or age verification.
• Face Liveness Verification Passive liveness detection capability that uses a single selfie to verify the subject is physically present, analyzing texture, lighting, and visual cues to distinguish live faces from photographs, screen displays, or printed images. Built for developers and platforms that need spoof-resistant biometric verification without adding user friction.
• Biometric Verification Biometric identification capability that searches submitted face images against databases of blacklisted users, known fraudsters, or previous onboarding sessions to identify repeat offenders and potential fraud. Uses algorithms designed to perform accurately across all ethnicities and is intended for fraud teams at financial services, online platforms, and sharing-economy businesses.
• Age Verification Age estimation service that estimates a user's age from a single selfie, enabling platforms to enforce age restrictions (for example, for alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, gaming, or adult content) without requiring users to submit sensitive ID information. Includes a liveness check to confirm the image is from a live person.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduce user drop-off through streamlined verification process
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UntanglecoreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic partnership with Untangle, a Singapore-based startup that helps companies like Kairos understand and audit their AI tech, ensuring deep learning models are right for the right reasons. Untangle provides algorithmic accountability and transparency through visual heatmaps and bias detection, helping Kairos identify where improvements are needed in their facial recognition models.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Azure AI Face: Microsoft Azure AI Face offers face detection, verification, and liveness as a managed cloud service — same facial recognition capability class, but bundled within Microsoft's broader enterprise cloud ecosystem rather than a dedicated IDV platform.
• Amazon Rekognition: Amazon Rekognition provides facial analysis, comparison, and liveness as part of AWS — overlapping capability in facial recognition and liveness detection, but delivered as a broad cloud platform service rather than a specialized IDV product.

Emerging players

• Ondato: Ondato offers KYC, AML, and biometric identity verification for European fintechs and banks — overlapping product suite with Kairos but primarily focused on EU-regulated financial services clients.

Direct peers

• Jumio: Jumio provides end-to-end identity verification, biometric authentication, and AML screening via API to financial services, gaming, and online platforms — overlapping with Kairos across fintech/gaming verticals and IDV/KYC product suite.
• FaceTec: FaceTec focuses on 3D face liveness and biometric matching used for KYC, account recovery, and onboarding — directly comparable on facial biometric and anti-spoofing core capability, often embedded by other IDV platforms as a vendor.
• iProov: iProov specializes in biometric face authentication with patented liveness detection for government, banking, and healthcare — directly comparable in liveness and facial verification, with deeper specialization in high-assurance government deployments.
• Persona: Persona provides a unified identity platform with document verification, selfie/face match, and database checks delivered through APIs and a no-code dashboard — directly overlapping on KYC, age verification, and developer-centric delivery.
• ID.me: ID.me provides identity verification and group affiliation verification for government agencies, employers, and healthcare — comparable in identity proofing and document/selfie verification, with stronger presence in U.S. public-sector and benefits eligibility.
• Veriff: Veriff offers AI-powered identity verification with document authentication, facial matching, and liveness detection delivered via API — directly comparable product capabilities and customer base in fintech, mobility, and online services.
• Onfido: Onfido is a direct identity verification competitor offering AI-powered document verification, facial biometric matching, and KYC/AML compliance APIs to enterprises globally — same product category, same target customer (regulated enterprises and fintechs), and same developer/API delivery model.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kairos-ar-inc-
• Xx.com/LoveKairos

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kairos