Passwordless security startup Trusona Inc. said today it has raised $20 million in new funding to support ongoing technology development.

The Series C round was led by Georgian Partners and included Kleiner Perkins, M12, OurCrowd, Seven Peaks Ventures and Akamai.

Founded in 2015, Trusona launched out of stealth mode in 2016 with a cloud-based digital identity authentication solution that was built in consultation with Frank Abagnale, the real-life criminal played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie “Catch Me If You Can.” The company has developed an authentication platform that employs multistep identity verification as an alternative to passwords.

Trusona Essential, the most basic version of the startup’s platform, relies on a mobile app to perform authentication. Users must verify their identity every time they launch the application by scanning their fingerprint or, if they want a more traditional login experience, with a six-digit PIN. It’s designed for protecting services that have to prioritize convenience at least as much as security.

The company claims that its technology is impervious to traditional forgery methods thanks to sensor technology that uses a unique electronic signature. Trusona’s “patent-pending anti-replay” technology is claimed to stop session replay attacks by using unique values of the scan to create a cryptographic “nonce” that can never be repeated. A session replay attack involves an attacker stealing a valid session ID of a user to impersonate an authorized user to perform fraudulent transactions or activities.

“We are seeing increasing demand for passwordless authentication because of how it simplifies and improves the user login experience,” Rick McConnell, president and general manager of Akamai Technology Inc.’s web division, said in a statement. “Trusona’s unique approach complements what Akamai does to register and manage customer identities, allowing our customers to offer great online experiences while reducing fraud and achieving compliance with growing regulatory requirements.”

Including the new funding, Trusona has raised $38 million to date.

Image: Trusona