Secure and cost-efficient identity verification is essential for business operations across consumer apps, fintech, and other industries. SMS and onboarding play an important role, yet incumbent solutions are prone to spam or added mark-up.
We are excited to partner up with Prelude, a Paris-based startup on a mission to help companies recover control over authentication costs and conversion rates.
Founders Matias Berny and Quentin Le Bras met while working for the consumer app Zenly, where they were in charge of implementing SMS verification. During their tenures, they were deeply entrenched in understanding the issues related to identity verification.
Using a set of unified APIs, Prelude is advancing SMS verification and mobile onboarding infrastructure through better fraud detection, elegant transparency, and increased conversion–all at a better price. The company’s SOC 2 Type II compliant solution connects with 20+ international and local providers and automatically selects the best route to offer the best conversion to price ratio.
Matias Berny, founder and CEO of Prelude highlights:
“We’re determined to tackle SMS fraud at its core and use our experience to go beyond SMS verification. Onboarding conversion is one of the toughest challenges in driving growth, and that’s the problem we aim to solve for our customers. We’re building new services to help them master user onboarding, trust, and retention.”
In addition to SMS, Prelude supports other messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Viber. Prelude’s customers include consumer apps including BeReal and Locket, and fintech and crypto companies such as Alma, Sunday, and Bitstack. The company has verified the phone numbers for 100 million different user accounts.
Arnaud Lemaire, Sunday’s CTO says:
“Operating across Europe and North America with international customers, we needed a solution that could keep up with our global reach while maintaining competitive prices—our previous provider fell short. With Prelude, we’ve completely transformed our messaging strategy. Now, we send OTPs worldwide effortlessly, with full visibility into deliverability and conversion rates. Plus, their responsive support team is always ready to help, ensuring we stay on track. Prelude has truly helped us elevate our B2C engagement.”
On why we partnered with Prelude, our Venture Partner Devin Hunt comments:
“We are thrilled to support Matias and the entire Prelude team. They are leveraging years of experience building internal solutions to deliver the best verification service across any platform. What may appear to be a simple detail on the surface is, in reality, a highly complex product, both from an operational and security perspective. This not only improves the cost efficiency of message delivery but also enhances the overall security of the applications that rely on it.”
We are excited to be part of Prelude’s journey from Day One and co-lead their $8 million Seed round alongside Singular.
For more information, visit prelude.so.