Our Second Investment: Ideem

Announcing Our Second Investment: Ideem

We’re very excited to announce The Hill Fund’s second investment: Ideem, a cybersecurity company building the future of user login security. 

One-time passcodes (OTPs) are increasingly vulnerable to fraud because they travel through text and email. The problem is even greater in emerging markets due to shared devices, prepaid numbers, and unreliable mobile networks. In response, countries such as Singapore, the UAE, and the Philippines are banning the use of OTPs for financial services companies, and other countries are limiting them. Financial institutions need a new, secure multi-factor authentication solution for over one billion users, representing a massive market opportunity for authentication tools that are secure and able to deploy at scale.

Ideem is seizing this opportunity by eliminating OTPs via device-centered, invisible multi-factor authentication for financial services and other high-trust sectors. Their core technology is called the Zero-Trust Secure Module (ZSM), a patented cryptographic module that establishes a trusted link between the user’s account and their physical device. This trusted link ensures that authentication requests originate only from approved, verified devices. Ideem then adds user-created passkeys to build a composite authenticator called Passkeys+. ZSM also uses this trusted connection to verify the user continuously throughout the entire session, not just at login.

By anchoring identity directly to the user’s device, Ideem removes the need for OTPs and creates a more consistent customer experience. No passcodes needed. For businesses, Ideem reduces fraud, failed logins, and support costs. For users, the experience is much more secure and also seamless – everything happens in the background.

The founding team is led by Toby Rush, a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits including authentication startup EyeVerify. Their cofounders are KU alumni Tim Massey and Maranda Manning and former KU lecturer Greg Storm. Together, they combine deep expertise in cryptography and data privacy, and they have all previously worked together. 

We’re thrilled to join a strong group of investors including Quona Ventures, Everywhere Ventures, Hustle Fund, Sovereign’s Capital, and the Oread Angel Network, to support Ideem as they make authentication more secure for businesses and their customers worldwide.