Mobile identity company Juvo has received an investment from Samsung NEXT, an off-shoot of Samsung that launched in 2013 to create new software and foster a startup culture at Samsung. The amount of the investment was undisclosed and adds to the San Francisco-based company’s $54 million in equity funding.

The bigger story here is that the investment is a strategic one. Samsung will bring Juvo access to billions of underbanked prepaid users across the globe. This will help Juvo enable MNOs to increase smartphone adoption among prepaid mobile subscribers.

Juvo was founded in 2014 with a mission to “establish financial identities for the billions of people worldwide who are creditworthy, yet financially excluded.” The company’s tag-line sums this up as, “access for all.”

In today’s press release, Steve Polsky, founder and CEO of Juvo, explained that the investment and alignment with Samsung NEXT is important because it allows Juvo “to further realize our vision by being among the first to integrate financial identity into a hardware device and, with it, offer unprecedented access to greater financial services.” He added, “Samsung opens a critical piece of the ecosystem for Juvo, and its world class organization, market expertise, and reach will accelerate the Juvo mission, putting sophisticated technology in the hands of unbanked people and provide financial access to those who need it most.”

“At Samsung NEXT, we’re focused on working with entrepreneurs and startups that are creating truly impactful software and services–software and services that will transform the way we, as humans, interact with our devices, each other and the world,” said Patrick Chang, Principal at Samsung NEXT Ventures. “Juvo’s impressive traction from mobile operators and consumers offers an opportunity for us to tap into the next billion customers through more comprehensive financial inclusion and accessibility.”

Polsky demoed Juvo’s Identity Scoring at FinovateFall 2016. The company empowers underbanked consumers by offering them a single identity with which to access financial services across the globe. Juvo also incentivizes financially underserved consumers to build credit and access financial services by extending microloans.

Since launch, the company has attained a reach of more than 500 million subscribers across four continents and is deployed in 25 countries. Last fall, Juvo partnered with Malaysian mobile virtual network operator, Tune Talk.

In a round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Wing Venture Capital, mobile identity scoring specialist Juvo raised $40 million in new funding. The Series B, which featured participation from SignalFire and other existing investors, takes the company’s total funding to $54 million. Juvo will use the funds to drive global expansion, especially in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. The additional financing will also help Juvo grow its product offerings for the financially underserved.

“It has been an exciting ride to date, surrounded by passionate people who believe deeply in Juvo’s mission,” company CEO Steve Polsky said. “This new funding will allow Juvo to expand and deepen our product offerings as well as continue to build the best in class teams in data science, financial services, and consumer mobile services.” Managing general partner at NEA  Scott Sandell called Juvo a company that was “helping to shape the innovation economy” and credited the San Francisco-based firm for “addressing a vital global need while providing distinct value to its partners.” Founding partner of Wing Venture Capital Peter Wagner, who will join Juvo’s board of directors as part of the investment and whose firm has been involved with Juvo “since their earliest days”, praised the company’s “potent combination of data, the mobile platform and the cloud to bring the power of identity to massive untapped markets.”

Pictured: CEO and founder Steve Polski demonstrating Juvo Identity Scoring at FinovateFall 2016.

Juvo works by teaming up with mobile phone operators and financial institutions to enable members of underserved communities to build financial identities. The company’s technology uses credit algorithms based on advanced data science to find creditworthy individuals among what Polsky says are the “two billion underbanked people in the world – most of whom have a mobile phone” and to ensure their access to financial services. Juvo has been a beneficial partner, as well, helping its operators lower churn by 50% or more, increase average revenue per user (ARPU) by up to 15%, and realize an average increase in subscriber lifetime value of 65%.

Juvo demonstrated its identity scoring technology at FinovateFall 2016. Headquartered in San Francisco and founded in 2014, Juvo is currently operating in 25 countries on four continents. Named to CB Insight’s Fintech 250 list in June, Juvo added Prosper president Ron Suber as strategic advisor in May and, last fall, the company partnered with Cable & Wireless to bring mobile credit services to customers in the Caribbean.