Last week, digital identity network ID.me received a grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). ID.me was awarded $3.75 million through NIST’s program called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which focuses on researching new forms of identity management.

ID.me, a Virginia-based company, is one of six grant recipients that received a cut of the total $15 million, which was divided into amounts from a little under $1 million to $3.75 million. ID.me will use the funds to pilot what’s known as federated credentials, a single set of credentials that works on multiple websites.

Mike Garcia, director of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, says the goal of the program is to “foster innovation that can make critical services more convenient and trustworthy for consumers while strengthening online security.”

ID.me’s Blake Hall, CEO and co-founder, and Ryan Fox, VP of product strategy, presented at FinovateSpring 2014

Founded in 2010, ID.me offers a way for people to prove their special group affiliations online—whether military, student, paramedic—to receive special promotions offered to their group. At FinovateSpring 2014 the company’s CEO and co-founder Blake Hall demonstrated how ID.me captures identity attributes without creating additional friction at checkout.

ID.me has received more than $17 million in funding from investors such as Silicon Valley Bank, USAA, and Scout VC. In 2014 the company acquired student discount platform Perkla.