SITA Leads Indicio Series A as Virtual Passport Effort Gains Momentum

SITA has led a Series A investment round for Indicio, a Seattle-based startup focused on decentralized identity technology.

The companies have not disclosed the size of the funding round, nor have they revealed participation on the part of other investors. But in a statement disclosing SITA’s contribution, the company’s SVP of Borders, Jeremy Springall, emphasized the transformative potential of digital identity technology, particularly with respect to travel—the area of SITA’s expertise.

“The emergence of digital identities means we can fundamentally rethink today’s complex passenger journey to make it easier, faster, and connected with the wider travel ecosystem,” Springall said. “It will simplify the identification process at every step and open up opportunities for the air transport industry to fully embrace the benefits of seamless travel and the digital economy. Our investment in Indicio reinforces our partnership in leading the market with this technology.”

SITA is not just an investor in Indicio; it is also one of the firm’s business partners. The companies first revealed their collaboration last summer, when they announced their development Digital Travel Credentials that travelers could use as a digital version of a passport, storing the credentials in their smartphones. Their technology was already being used in a pilot at the Queen Beatrix International Airport, in partnership with the Government of Aruba.

That led to the announcement in November of the “Aruba Happy One Pass”, which would enable travelers to use a face-scanning mobile app to set up a virtual passport on their smartphone, enabling them to move through border screening without the need to show their physical passports. Support for the app is scheduled to launch this month.

“The success of our work with SITA bringing digital identity and the trust network to life has shown that the sky is not the limit,” commented Indicio co-founder and CEO Heather Dahl. “We are transforming every part of our collective digital journey by adding the kind of trust that has previously been elusive and is blocking the evolution of the digital economy.”

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March 6, 2024 – by Alex Perala