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SpruceID

Decentralized digital credentials platform with mDLs

Overview

SpruceID builds a platform to manage digital credentials across their entire lifecycle for organizations. Its main product, SpruceKit, lets any application add decentralized identity capabilities so the app and its users can issue, store, and verify digital credentials, such as mobile driver's licenses and professional certifications. The system relies on cryptographic signing and decentralized key management to enable trusted, verifiable identities. SpruceID differentiates itself by offering an open-source solution (SpruceKit and components under Apache 2.0 or MIT licenses), providing transparency and easy integration for developers. This open approach, combined with a focus on decentralized identity and support for mDLs, targets government entities, professional organizations, and businesses that need secure digital identification. The goal is to make secure, interoperable digital credentials widely available and easy to deploy for a broad range of use cases.

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About SpruceID

Simplify's Rating
Why SpruceID is rated
B-
Rated B on Competitive Edge
Rated B on Growth Potential
Rated C on Differentiation

Industries

Data & AnalyticsGovernment & Public SectorEnterprise SoftwareCybersecurity

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$41.6M

Headquarters

New York City, New York

Founded

2020

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What believers are saying

  • SpruceID posted seven open roles on November 9, 2026, signaling active expansion.
  • DHS selected SpruceID in 2026 for digital wallet and verifier contracts.
  • California's August 2026 milestone of 4 million mDLs validates real deployment at scale.

What critics are saying

  • SpruceID depends on slow government procurement, delaying revenue recognition through 2027.
  • The market is fragmenting around OpenID4VC and SD-JWT, compressing differentiation.
  • If DHS and California programs stall, SpruceID loses its only obvious enterprise beachheads.

What makes SpruceID unique

  • SpruceID's Rust-based open-source core targets standards-first government identity deployments.
  • California DMV used SpruceID's wallet for over 4 million mDLs by August 2026.
  • SpruceID combines issuer, holder, and verifier tooling for end-to-end credential lifecycles.

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Funding

Total Funding

$41.6M

Above

Industry Average

Funded Over

3 Rounds

Series A funding typically happens when a startup has a product and some customers, and now needs funding to scale. This money is usually used to grow the team, expand marketing, and improve the product. Venture capital firms are frequently the main investors here.
Series A Funding Comparison
Above Average

Industry standards

$15M
$8.2M
$15M
$30M
$34M

Benefits

  • Remote Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

2%

1 year growth

2%

2 year growth

5%
Zero G Talent
Nov 7th, 2026
SpruceID expands public sector footprint with DHS contract and state Digital Identity roles.

SpruceID expands public sector footprint with DHS contract and state Digital Identity roles. By Zero G Talent - November 7, 2026 at 10:03 AM PST SpruceID was selected by the Department of Homeland Security for identity security contracts, as reported by Nextgov/FCW. The agency contract focuses on digital wallet systems designed to meet travel document standards while safeguarding citizen privacy. The 25-person startup, founded in 2020 by Wayne Chang and Gregory Rocco, previously partnered with the State of California Department of Motor Vehicles to build a mobile driver's license application. According to an interview in Pulse 2.0, that project moved from planning to production in 18 months, allowing California residents to store digital credentials in an open-source mobile wallet used at TSA airport checkpoints. To support expanding state and federal projects, the company is hiring engineering talent for direct client engagement. Open positions include the Principal Forward Deployed Engineer ($200,000 to $225,000), who leads high-impact engagements with state governments to define architecture and adoption strategies while writing backend code, and the Senior Forward Deployed Engineer ($150,000 to $175,000), focused on building and deploying privacy-preserving identity systems directly with public sector partners. Learn Engineering Decentralized credential infrastructure. Instead of traditional sign-in mechanisms where central databases store user records, SpruceID builds architecture around user-controlled data vaults. Its core software foundation, SpruceKit, is released open-source and primarily written in Rust, which cross-compiles to target client environments for memory safety and execution efficiency. Discover more Aerospace Engineering SpruceKit libraries implement verifiable credential standards established by ISO, W3C, and NIST for issuing, holding, and revoking digital credentials. In a video overview titled How Verifiable Digital Credentials Work, the company demonstrates how credentials signed by trusted authorities act like digital sealed envelopes, verified locally using public key cryptography without querying a central authority. To advance mobile implementations across platforms, SpruceID is hiring a Senior Mobile Engineer ($140,000 to $180,000) to build identity solutions in Flutter and React Native, alongside a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Mobile ($150,000 to $175,000) to collaborate with state partners on turning policy requirements into mobile applications. Learn Engineering Leadership and product strategy. Co-founder and CEO Wayne Chang holds a background in electrical and software engineering and previously founded a health tech company focused on medical records access. Chang has also backed early-stage technology companies including Gusto, Planet Labs, and Finch. Co-founder Gregory Rocco led digital identity strategy at ConsenSys before co-founding SpruceID and currently serves as Head of Portfolio at Ethereal Ventures. Learn Engineering Speaking at a TechCalifornia presentation, Chang highlighted how resident-controlled wallets allow individuals to carry verified facts - such as residency or income status - to streamline public benefit claims and cut fraud across state programs. In an interview on the Privacy Podcast, Chang noted that SpruceID originally launched Sign-in with Ethereum to let users authenticate via blockchain accounts rather than corporate intermediaries, before expanding into standards-compliant digital credential management for governments and enterprises. SpruceID raised a $34 million Series A round in April 2022 led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Okta Ventures, Electric Capital, Y Combinator, and Coinbase Ventures, bringing total funding to approximately $42 million. Discover more Browse Careers Remote engineering hiring. SpruceID operates fully remotely across the United States. In addition to forward-deployed customer roles, the engineering team is hiring full-stack and mobile developers to build out core credentialing frameworks: * Mobile Engineer, Digital Identity (Fully Remote) ($120,000 to $200,000): Develops mobile identity applications in Flutter for state governments and enterprises, integrating backend identity services and cryptographic libraries. * Full-Stack Software Engineer - Remote ($120,000 to $200,000): Builds full-stack identity features for high-compliance environments and provides technical consulting for public sector deployments. * Full-Stack Software Engineer (New Grad) - Remote ($110,000 to $150,000): Assists senior engineers in developing backend microservices and web user interfaces for state government partner applications. Open roles at SpruceID. | Role | Location | Work Mode | Salary | | Principal Forward Deployed Engineer | United States / Remote (US) | Remote | $200,000 - $225,000 | | Senior Forward Deployed Engineer | United States / Remote (US) | Remote | $150,000 - $175,000 | | Mobile Engineer, Digital Identity (Fully Remote) | United States / Remote (US) | Remote | $120,000 - $200,000 | | Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Mobile | United States / Remote (US) | Remote | $150,000 - $175,000 | | Full-Stack Software Engineer - Remote | United States / Remote (US) | Remote | $120,000 - $200,000 | | Full-Stack Software Engineer (New Grad) - Remote | United States / Remote (US) | Remote | $110,000 - $150,000 | | Senior Mobile Engineer | United States / Remote (US) | Remote | $140,000 - $180,000 |

SpruceID
Feb 6th, 2025
Recognition of Award-Winning Privacy Research Paper

SpruceID CEO Wayne Chang's collaborative research on personhood credentials is recognized in the Future of Privacy Forum's Privacy Papers for Policymakers Awards, highlighting its impact on digital credentials and AI trust.

Passenger Terminal Today
Jul 9th, 2024
DHS awards contracts to six startups to develop and implement digital credential technology

SpruceID, a New York, New York company, was awarded $199,960 to enhance its digital wallet and verifier capabilities to better support global standards for enterprise and public sector environments.

Startup Italia
Feb 12th, 2024
Come Si Evolverà L’Identità Digitale E Quali Startup Tenere D’Occhio Per Restare Aggiornati

I sistemi di identità digitale, come SPID e CIE, stanno vivendo una profonda trasformazione. In Italia è previsto che convergano in un unico wallet chiamato “IT wallet” su cui attualmente sta lavorando il Governo. La decisione arriva in conseguenza all’evoluzione normativa, che ha introdotto l’European Digital Identity Wallet, e alla crescente richiesta da parte delle Big Tech di servizi abilitati dall’identità digitale. Intanto, diverse startup sono a lavoro per lanciare alcune novità legate al tema. L’Osservatorio Digital Identity del Politecnico di Milano, con “Startup Thinking”, ne ha selezionate alcune. Scopriamole assieme.Leggi anche: Focoos AI, spin-off del Politecnico di Torino, incassa un finanziamento da 335 mila euroNove startup da seguireTra le startup più promettenti nel settore selezionate dall’Osservatorio Digital Identity del Politecnico di Milano, in collaborazione con l’Osservatorio Startup Thinking, ci sono:BIOMEYE , che sta sviluppando soluzioni integrate per combinare hardware, biometria e intelligenza artificiale per semplificare i processi di riconoscimento e accesso, prevenire il furto di identità, ridurre il rischio di incidenti e fornire informazioni preziose sul comportamento dei consumatori;, che sta sviluppando soluzioni integrate per combinare hardware, biometria e intelligenza artificiale per semplificare i processi di riconoscimento e accesso, prevenire il furto di identità, ridurre il rischio di incidenti e fornire informazioni preziose sul comportamento dei consumatori; Ubble , che ha sviluppato una soluzione per effettuare l’identificazione a distanza tramite video, applicabile per il KYC nelle istituzioni finanziarie, ma che può essere applicata anche in altri settori;, che ha sviluppato una soluzione per effettuare l’identificazione a distanza tramite video, applicabile per il KYC nelle istituzioni finanziarie, ma che può essere applicata anche in altri settori; Cyberneid , che combina biometria e intelligenza artificiale per abilitare processi di identificazione sicuri, migliorando l’esperienza utente e riducendo il tasso d’abbandono, con soluzioni che includono tecnologie OCR per acquisire dati da documenti ufficiali;, che combina biometria e intelligenza artificiale per abilitare processi di identificazione sicuri, migliorando l’esperienza utente e riducendo il tasso d’abbandono, con soluzioni che includono tecnologie OCR per acquisire dati da documenti ufficiali; Gayadeed , che ha sviluppato un software per integrare un sistema di firma elettronica nelle videoconferenze, agevolando la firma remota dei contratti anche con controparti che non possiedono una firma elettronica propria;, che ha sviluppato un software per integrare un sistema di firma elettronica nelle videoconferenze, agevolando la firma remota dei contratti anche con controparti che non possiedono una firma elettronica propria; IDlayr , per trasformare i telefoni cellulari in identità digitali con fattori di riconoscimenti innovativi che semplificano l’autenticazione degli utenti e offrono soluzioni passwordless;, per trasformare i telefoni cellulari in identità digitali con fattori di riconoscimenti innovativi che semplificano l’autenticazione degli utenti e offrono soluzioni passwordless; Mopso , che vuole rivoluzionare l’onboarding con credenziali digitali condivisibili una sola volta, permettendo di risparmiare in termini di tempo e costi;, che vuole rivoluzionare l’onboarding con credenziali digitali condivisibili una sola volta, permettendo di risparmiare in termini di tempo e costi; Rozes , spin-off dell’Università di Padova che sviluppa algoritmi di intelligenza artificiale predittiva e piattaforme di risk intelligence volte al contrasto della criminalità organizzata nella finanza;, spin-off dell’Università di Padova che sviluppa algoritmi di intelligenza artificiale predittiva e piattaforme di risk intelligence volte al contrasto della criminalità organizzata nella finanza; SpruceID , che consente alle organizzazioni di gestire l’intero ciclo di vita delle credenziali digitali, come la patente di guida digitalizzata e certificazioni professionali, garantendo sicurezza, privacy e controllo all’utente;, che consente alle organizzazioni di gestire l’intero ciclo di vita delle credenziali digitali, come la patente di guida digitalizzata e certificazioni professionali, garantendo sicurezza, privacy e controllo all’utente; TECH5, che ha ideato un software per l’offerta di identità biometriche e digitali, garantendo un’identificazione sicura per clienti e dipendenti, attraverso l’applicazione di tecnologie di intelligenza artificiale e apprendimento automatico.Dalla ricerca condotta dall’Osservatorio del Politecnico è emerso anche che su circa 450 startup globali operanti in questo ambito, quelle fondate a partire dal 2018 e finanziate dal 2020 hanno raccolto complessivamente 2,5 miliardi di dollari

Biometric Update
Nov 1st, 2023
California, Iowa make progress on mDLs, Australian states see delays

SpruceID has partnered with California's DMV to develop the app for the state's mDL, which was piloted earlier this fall.

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