To realize that the background check industry needs an overhaul look no further than the backlog of 700,000 background checks faced by the federal agency that handles all background checks for sensitive government positions. This backlog has essentially rendered background checks useless, as many agencies are able to give security clearances on a temporary basis before a background check is even started.
Intelligo is an Israeli company trying to make background checks relevant again by using AI and machine learning to not only speed up and automate the process, but also run more thorough checks.
Launching out of beta today, the company has raised $6.8M to date – a seed round of $1.1M and a Series A of $5.7M. They boast investors like Eileen Murray (Co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates) and advisors like the former director of the NSA Michael McConnell and former Managing Director of the Israel Ministry of Defense Pinhas Buchris.
Currently most serious background checks are done manually. This means that when an analyst creating a report comes across a new data source they need to decide if it’s worth taking the time to parse it and add it to the report. Consequently, many important sources like social media pages and news sites are left out of reports. It also means that background checks can take up to a week or longer, which is frustrating for the company and applicant.
Alternatively, Intelligo’s solution is primarily driven by an automated machine learning platform that can indiscriminately look at all thousands of data sources without concern for how much manual labor it will take. Reports are also provided in a user-friendly interactive dashboard, which is a stark contrast to the dozens of typed pages that an old-school background check will be.
Automating the process also dramatically costs down on cost – Intelligo says their prices are half of the average market price, which is allowing small and midsize businesses to now get the benefit of a high-level background check that typically would only be used by a larger corporation.
The startup also offers an ongoing monitoring product designed for the investment world. Funds often want the ability to monitor their portfolio companies and management teams even after the initial due diligence process, and by using an automated platform Intelligo can let let funds know of management issues long before a human would find the source of the issue.
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