VeryAI Raises $10M to Develop Palm-Scan Identity Verification as AI Fraud Risks Grow

Palm biometrics proposed as response to AI-generated identity risks

VeryAI has introduced a new identity verification system based on palm biometrics and smartphone cameras, alongside announcing a $10 million seed funding round. The round was led by Polychain Capital with participation from the Berggruen Institute and Anagram.

The funding coincides with the debut of VeryAI’s Proof of Reality platform, which aims to verify that a user interacting online is a real person rather than an AI-generated identity or deepfake. The company positions the technology as a response to growing concerns surrounding synthetic media and automated identity fraud.

Industry data suggests the challenge is intensifying. The time required for attackers to compromise systems has reportedly increased by 22% since 2023, with breaches now occurring in an average of 48 minutes. As generative AI tools become more capable of producing convincing synthetic identities, common authentication methods such as facial recognition, CAPTCHAs and two-factor authentication are increasingly facing scrutiny.

VeryAI’s system captures palm scans using a smartphone camera and does not require specialized hardware. Palm biometrics can offer strong identifiers because palm features are highly unique and rarely exposed publicly.

According to the company, its model achieves a false acceptance rate of roughly one in 10 million when verifying a single hand. When both hands are used, the probability decreases to approximately one in 100 trillion — a level the company says improves on many facial recognition systems.

“Privacy is a human right. But deepfakes and synthetic content present weaknesses that current systems simply can’t keep up with. VeryAI is restoring trust in identity verification by replacing outdated methods with solutions that are accurate, private and frictionless. Having helped build identity solutions for millions of crypto users, from KYC and reputation scores to ZK Protocols and credential systems, I’ve seen both their value and their limits in the face of AI-driven fraud. VeryAI is building the future of identity verification.”
—Zach Meltzer, founder and CEO of VeryAI

How VeryAI’s blockchain-based verification system works

VeryAI plans to offer its technology through a business-to-business model, enabling crypto exchanges, fintech companies and other digital platforms to integrate palm verification into their authentication systems. Partners will be charged based on monthly user verification activity.

The platform records identity registrations on-chain using the Solana blockchain, which the company says provides fast transaction finality and low operational costs. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko is also listed as an angel investor in the project.

To protect user privacy, the system incorporates zero-knowledge proofs along with the Solana Attestation Service. These technologies allow users to confirm their identity across decentralized applications without revealing personal data.

VeryAI is also integrating Light Protocol’s zero-knowledge compression technology. This approach stores only state roots on-chain while validating compressed state off-chain, helping reduce storage costs while maintaining security.

Once verification is completed, the system generates a non-traceable identifier that confirms a verified action occurred without linking it to a specific individual. The company states that it does not store palm images, instead keeping irreversible biometric feature representations that cannot be reconstructed.

VeryAI’s leadership team includes CEO Zach Meltzer, who previously worked on identity infrastructure and helped scale the Web3 platform Galxe to more than 6,000 partners and 34 million users, and Chief Science Officer Hua Yang, a palm biometrics researcher with more than 50 publications and patents.

“Every major platform, whether in finance, crypto, or social media, is grappling with the risks of AI-driven fraud. VeryAI’s palm verification technology closes that gap with accuracy, privacy and accessibility that no other biometric identity solution has yet to match. This is the foundation for a new standard of trust online.”
—Olaf Carlson-Wee, Founder of Polychain Capital

VeryAI has also appointed Matthew Groh, assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and principal investigator of the Human-AI Collaboration Lab, as an advisor. The company plans to collaborate with the university on research aimed at improving human resilience to deepfakes and strengthening synthetic media detection.

The bottom line

As AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated, verifying whether a digital user is human is becoming increasingly complex. VeryAI’s palm-based verification platform represents one approach to addressing the issue by combining biometric identification, blockchain infrastructure, and privacy-focused cryptography. The newly raised funding will support further development of the Proof of Reality platform and additional tools aimed at distinguishing verified human users from AI-generated identities online.