The small Montana-based tech company Reveal Technology announced that its biometric tool Identifi has been formally adopted as a program of record by U.S. Special Operations Command, or USSOCOM. And, according to last week’s announcement, it’s a major milestone, not just for the company but for the technology as well.
Garrett Smith, Reveal’s chief executive officer, explained that the “milestone represents years of partnership” needed to develop the technology.
“Identifi ensures that biometric identification and verification remain accessible, secure and mission-ready across the spectrum of operations,” he said.
The Identifi tool is an application programmed on a mobile device that allows operators to check and review fingerprints, analyze faces and voices, and scan irises in the field. They can upload or cross reference the information with a Defense Department database known as the Automated Biometric Identification System, or ABIS, to identify individuals or enemy combatants.
In an email to Military Times, McKenna Miller, the company’s communication director, explained that Identifi was originally developed by the company DFL Technology. DFL won a contract from Special Operations Forces Works, or SOFWERX, a non-profit that partners with SOCOM to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors for technological solutions.
Using input from SOCOM subject matter experts, the company built a prototype for Identifi. In 2023, they entered it into SOCOM’s Tactical Biometric Event, which was an open competition for industry with a technical and operational evaluation, and won. A year later, Reveal acquired DFL, and they have been working on the project together ever since.
Although using biometric data for identification is nothing new, the way in which the information is digitally collected and stored is.
Smith told Axios that when he deployed to Afghanistan with the Marine Corps, they used decades-old technology, so the hope is the Marines and Army will also adopt Reveal’s biometric tool. He called SOCOM the “trendsetter” for the U.S. military and intelligence communities.
Miller declined to disclose the value of SOCOM’s Identifi contract. But, according to a search of USA Spending, since 2019 Reveal has been awarded some 15 contracts totaling more than $13 million from the DoD, General Services Administration and Small Business Administration.
Since launching in 2018, Reveal said it has increased its revenue tenfold year over year. Last July, it announced that it had raised some $30 million in funding and with that investment, it has doubled its workforce to include more than a hundred employees.
According to Reveal’s announcement, SOCOM has already begun fielding the Identifi tool and it’s planning for broader deployment throughout the fiscal year.
Daniel Terrill is a contributor to Military Times. He’s been reporting on military issues, the gun industry, and the outdoors for nearly two decades. Although writing is his passion, he’s been a Marine, police officer, and, perhaps the most dangerous job of his career, a substitute teacher.