In the ever-evolving arms race between cybersecurity professionals and digital fraudsters, the gap between user convenience and secure authentication has widened dangerously. As artificial intelligence lowers the technical barrier for criminals to convincingly impersonate individuals, traditional forms of identity verification, like SMS codes and password-based logins, are proving increasingly obsolete.
Unibeam, an Israeli startup, has emerged with a bold proposition: to eliminate the trade-off between friction and safety. Armed with $6 million in seed funding led by NFX and joined by AnD Ventures, Unibeam is pioneering a SIM-based cryptographic authentication system that eliminates the need for passwords, apps, and codes. Instead, it leverages the secure chip already embedded in every phone, whether it uses a physical SIM or eSIM, to provide instant, deterministic user verification.
The Escalating Threat of Identity Fraud
The digital landscape has seen a significant surge in identity fraud. This widening vulnerability is already taking a toll: in 2024 alone, SIM-swap fraud surged by over 1,000% in the UK, with remote purchase fraud reaching nearly 2.6 million cases.
Moreover, 3,000 unauthorized SIM swaps were filed to the National Fraud Database in 2024. This problem occurs when criminals hijack a victim’s mobile number by porting it to a new SIM without their consent. Once in control of a victim’s number, criminals can intercept calls and messages, including crucial two-factor authentication codes.
Moreover, “remote purchase” fraud reached a record high of nearly 2.6 million cases in the UK, with fraudsters exploiting stolen or tricked details, especially one-time passcodes (OTPs), to make unauthorized online purchases.
Recognizing the limitations of traditional authentication methods, Gigi Levy-Weiss, Founding Partner at NFX, stated: “With AI making it alarmingly easy to impersonate people online, we’re seeing a surge in digital fraud that traditional authentication methods can’t handle. What excites us about Unibeam is that they’re not just improving authentication—they’re redefining it.”
Deterministic Authentication: A Paradigm Shift
Unlike probabilistic models that rely on behavioral patterns and can be prone to error, Unibeam employs a deterministic approach. By cryptographically binding a user’s identity to their SIM or eSIM and device-level signals, Unibeam ensures precise user verification without guesswork. This method utilizes identifiers already embedded in every phone, such as the SIM ID, device ID, and phone number, to generate a unique cryptographic key for each user.
Universal Compatibility Across Devices
Unibeam’s technology is designed to operate seamlessly across all handsets, from smartphones to feature phones, and on any mobile operating system. Being API-based and fully SaaS, it offers near-universal coverage thanks to eSIM capabilities. This broad compatibility enables the company to authenticate not just users but also connected devices, with applications in login, multi-factor authentication (MFA), transaction approval, and IoT security.
Experienced Leadership and Strategic Advisory
Founded by mobile technology entrepreneur Ran Ben-David, Unibeam’s leadership team includes CTO Steve Harkins, a seasoned expert in SIM technology. The company’s advisory board comprises telecom industry veterans, including Amos Genish (former CEO of TIM, Vivo, and Telecom India), Stéphane Richard (former CEO and Chairman of Orange Global), and Michel Combes (CEO of SoftBank International and former CEO of Vodafone Europe and Alcatel-Lucent).
Reimagining Trust for a Post-Password World
As cyber threats escalate, the limitations of passwords, one-time passwords (OTPs), and behavioral biometrics are becoming increasingly exposed. Unibeam offers a compelling alternative: a deterministic, SIM-based authentication solution that anchors identity to hardware already embedded in billions of devices. It eliminates friction for users while dramatically reducing the risk of spoofing, phishing, and SIM-swap attacks, making it secure and scalable across smartphones, feature phones, and IoT devices.
With $6 million in seed funding and a leadership team backed by telecom heavyweights, Unibeam is well-positioned to set a new global standard in authentication. In a world where digital trust is under constant siege, Unibeam’s frictionless and cryptographically grounded approach may be the breakthrough the internet has been waiting for.