Pangiam, a portfolio company of the private equity firm AE Industrial Partners (AEI), last Friday said it acquired an integrated facial recognition system from a Washington, D.C.-area airport authority that developed the system several years ago to meet Department of Homeland Security requirements to use biometrics to verify the departure of foreign nationals from the U.S. in accordance with their visa terms.
The value of the deal wasn’t disclosed. Pangiam was formed last fall by AEI through the acquisitions of Linkware and PRE. This is the first acquisition by Pangiam, which is based in Alexandria, Va.
The facial recognition system and acquired by Pangiam, veriScan, is used by some airports and airlines to record the departure of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens at the boarding gate on international flights leaving the U.S. U.S. citizens have the option to opt-out as the law requiring use of a biometric exit system only applies to foreign nationals.
VeriScan was developed and marketed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The live photo taken at a boarding gate is compared to a small gallery of photos the DHS Customs and Border Protection agency maintains in the Traveler Verification Service for international flights during a certain day with match rates of about 98 percent.
The benefit to all travelers using the facial recognition system for departing flights is that the system will confirm their identity, making it faster and more efficient to board a flight. And with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the biometric system improves public health by not requiring identity documents to be shared.
“Pangiam is excited to acquire veriScan, which, through its state-of-the art technology, is truly revolutionizing the safety and ease of air travel today,” Kevin McAleenan, CEO of Pangiam, said in a statement. “veriScan’s cost effective, easy to implement cloud application makes it accessible to all airports and airlines, and we expect to see increased adoption of this technology this year as travel resumes globally.”
Pangiam was created to be a travel and security solutions technology company. The company says its goal is to “revolutionize the future of operations, security, and safety at airports, seaports, and land border crossing through the use of emerging technologies.”
McAleenan is a former commissioner of CBP and acting Secretary of Homeland Security.
CBP says that Biometric Exit is deployed at 28 airports and seven seaports. The agency is also using facial comparison technology at 32 airports for processing travelers arriving to the U.S. The facial comparison technology is also being deployed along the southern U.S. land border at ports of entry.