Verifiable credential
A verficiable credential is a secure digital acreditation of specific attribute or circumstance of an individual or organization (the holder) that is issued by an appropiate trusted issuer and can be verified by an individual or organization that need to check that specific condition (without going through the verification itself).
Verification flow
The holders initiates the flow by requesting the verification of an specific attribute of their profile. The verification is a sequence of steps that a verification agent (an issuer) will take to be able to prove that specific attribute and fill be finished when all the verification checks have been performed. The result of this verification (if succesful) is a digital credential that can be shared by the holder with verifiers who need to confirms that aspect.
Credentials’ issuer
An issuer is a role that an individual or organization might perform by creating a Verifiable Credential, associating it with the acreditation of a specific subject, and transmitting it to a holder. In phase 1 of the pilot use case, the trusted issuers will be FundingBox and BIA. In phase 2, the issuers of the legal existence KYB credentials will be extended beyond the project partners to organisations such as accelerators or business incubator centres.
To become an issuer, approval will be required by 100% of the partners representatives within the TAO based on criteria to be defined. However, it will be based on the issuer background, expertise, type of credential to be issued. As new credentials are added, the review and approval process will be updated.
Credentials’ holder
The holder of a Verifiable Credentialcan be an individual or an organisation, who is the sole owner of the issued Verifiable Credential, and has full control over its handling, use and verification.
Within the OnePass use case, the holder will be early stage startups in the first phase of the project implementation and, in later stages, the range will be broaden to include SMEs.
Credentials’ verifier
The verifier role is performed by an entity which requests and receive one or more Verifiable Credentials for processing.
In the OnePass use case, the verifiers will be Investors who will verify the credentials shared by the SME (holder).
Digital wallet
Decentralized identifier
Trust framework
The holder of a Verifiable Credential sits at the centre of a triangle of trust, mediating between issuer and verifier. The issuer and holder trust each other, the holder trusts the verifier, and the verifier trusts the issuer. In this framework, trust will be born from the flow of trustworthy and verifiable information of each of their agents.
Trusted acredditation organisation (TAO)
In Verifiable Credentials use cases, a Trusted Acredditation Organisation (TAO) is an organisation that can accredit an issuer with the ability to issue certain types of Verifiable Credentials.
In the first phase of the OnePass use case, this role will be played will be the TAO committee chaired by the project coordinator and with 1 representative of each OnePass project consortium partner.
In the later phases of the project, other existing organisations with accredited reputation as representatives of target issuer organisations, can be considered based on the learnings from the first phase and the credentials to be issued. For example, these could be other funding providers specialised in supporting Startups, or startup associations such as European Startup Network, Invest Europe IVZW, European BIC Network, or European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
Know your customer (KYC)
KYC refers to the process through which financial institutions verify the identity of their customers. This involves collecting and validating information such as name, address, date of birth, and other relevant details. The goal is to ensure that institutions have a comprehensive understanding of their customers, enabling them to assess the associated risks and provide appropriate services. KYC measures are essential for establishing trust, reducing fraud, and complying with regulatory requirements.
Know your business (KYB)
The KYB process will verify the legal existence of the company, its legal form, address, tax number, representation, shareholders (if applicable) and other attributes of the company.
Venture Readiness Momentum
This is an investability indicator related to the speed and direction with which a startup company is progressing towards its goals.
SME status
This is a check of the size of the company to verify its compliance with the SME definition of the European Commission . It covers the verification of the financial viability check, the number of employees and the relations with other entities in the shareholders structure.