Mark Straub

Mark is the CEO of the digital KYC platform Smile Identity.

Mark has spent much of his career trying to help people in underserved markets get access to better opportunities through technology and investment. He's been a venture capital investor for a decade and have worked with over 20 companies doing business in adtech, fintech, healthcare, and energy in markets ranging from the US to India and Sub-Saharan Africa. During his time at DFJ he was fortunate enough to be an investor in all three of Elon Musk's companies. Working with Vinod Khosla at Khosla Impact, he was proud to lead investments in Kopo Kopo, NeoGrowth, Milaap, Branch and Flutterwave as well as incubate Smile Identity.

At Smile ID, the mission is to make the benefits of a modern digital lifestyle universally accessible by expanding trust in underserved markets between institutions and mobile users. They do this through image recognition and machine learning. They believe being able to easily prove your identity is fundamental to accessing a range of services and opportunities from transportation to jobs to healthcare and banking.