The West Virginia University Office of Technology Transfer has granted a license for certain biometrics technologies to Confirmix LLC, a startup company formed by the WVU faculty member who developed the technologies and a team of seasoned entrepreneurs.

The company will utilize the technologies to develop enterprise and consumer identity authentication products. Enterprise products will be marketed through its flagship brand – Confirmix – and will combat the identity theft and online fraud activities that cause more than $100 billion in losses annually to businesses and consumer products.

Consumer products will be marketed through the company’s SecureSelfies brand and focus on prevention of unauthorized access of mobile phones and tablets, as well as the photos and other personal information that are stored on these devices.

To support commercialization activities, the company recently launched its SecureSelfies Kickstarter project. More information can be found here.

The technologies were developed in the laboratory of Thirimachos Bourlai, Ph.D., director of WVU’s Multispectral Imagery Laboratory and assistant professor at the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

The licensed technologies include capabilities for image enhancement and restoration, face and eye detection, task detection and matching, and dual-mode and dual-scenario matching. These technologies provide the key components of next-generation identity management solutions that will allow reliable user confirmation and authentication.

“The Statler College is excited about the license to Confirmix,” said Gene Cilento, Glen Hiner Dean of the Statler College. “The excellent work done by our faculty member is consistent with the entrepreneurial and economic development principles in the College mission, and we look for the continued evolution of northern West Virginia as a center for the continued development of the biometrics and identity management industry.”

Confirmix was founded by the faculty inventor of the licensed biometrics technologies at WVU and a team of entrepreneurs based in Morgantown with a record of leading technology startups from founding to acquisition by multinational companies.

“We are pleased that Confirmix has licensed the biometrics technologies developed by Dr. Bourlai, and we believe that the technologies provide the Confirmix team with the key building blocks for market-leading products in the identity management space,” said Bruce Sparks, director of the WVU Office of Technology Transfer.

About West Virginia University Office of Technology Transfer
The West Virginia University Office of Technology Transfer Office – part of the WVU Research Corp. – assists in the fulfillment of the WVU’s land grant mission of education, research, and public service. The OTT exists to serve the faculty, staff, students, and administration of WVU and the public by encouraging invention and innovation at WVU, protecting the intellectual property rights of WVU by patent, copyright, or other means, transferring the results of WVU research to the public, generating income for future research and education, and contributing to local, state, regional and national business competitiveness and economic development. For more information, please visit http://techtransfer.research.wvu.edu/.

About Confirmix and SecureSelfies
Confirmix LLC, based in Morgantown, W. Va., is a startup company focused on delivering technologies to support secure confirmation of identification for enterprises under its flagship Confirmix brand and for consumers under its SecureSelfies brand. For more information, please visit http://www.secureselfies.com.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Bruce Sparks; WVU Office of Technology Transfer
304.293.3776, bruce.sparks@mail.wvu.edu
or
Patrick Esposito, Confirmix
304.282.8876; pesposito@confirmix.com

tt/10/20/14

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