e-signature
An electronic signature, or e-signature, is data that is logically associated with other data and which is used by the signatory to sign the associated data. This type of signature has the same legal standing as a handwritten signature as long as ...
, and eClosing services. The company was founded in 2015.
History
Notarize was founded in April 2015 in
Boston, MA
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...
by Pat Kinsel. Kinsel was inspired to start Notarize when he had difficulty notarizing documents when selling his prior startup, Spindle, to
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. Adam Pase joined as co-founder later in 2015 as the service neared its public launch.
In February 2016, the company launched its smartphone app on iTunes enabling anyone to connect with a notary public online and on-demand 24/7, integrating live video with computer imaging technology and a software-based forensic analysis for user identification.
By June 2017, the company had reportedly done 10,000 notarizations worldwide. In July 2017, the company completed the United States' first online mortgage closing, with United Wholesale Mortgage, Stewart Title, and
Freddie Mac
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
In October 2019, the company partnered with online startup Trust & Will to create the United States' first system to execute fully digital online wills and trust documents in Nevada and Indiana.
In October 2020, Notarize signed a deal with document management company Adobe to integrate Notarize's remote online notarization (RON) capability into the
Adobe Sign
Adobe Acrobat Sign (formerly EchoSign, eSign & Adobe Sign) is a cloud-based e-signature service that allows the user to send, sign, track, and manage signature processes using a browser or mobile device. It is part of the Adobe Document Cloud s ...
e-signature platform. The company also announced its partnership with Ellie Mae's Encompass and Zillow's Dotloop. The service's usage was propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, Notarize's online notary video service was used by Pennsylvania postal worker Richard Hopkins for a sworn affidavit alleging voter fraud, a claim that was later recanted. In December, Fortune reported that the company would make a good acquisition target, due to a 2020 trend of acquisitions of companies that allow contracts to be completed over the cloud using computers.
The company announced a $130M Series D Financing in March 2021. Investors included Alphabet's independent growth fund Capital G,
Citi
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomer ...
,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
Lennar
Lennar Corporation is a home construction company based in the census-designated place of Fontainebleau, Florida, with a Miami postal address. In 2021, the company was the second-largest home construction company in the United States based on the ...
, and others.
In May 2021, the company announced that
Roger Ferguson
Roger W. Ferguson Jr. (born October 28, 1951 in Washington, D.C.) is an American economist, attorney and corporate executive who served as the 17th vice chairmam of the Federal Reserve from 1999 to 2006. Prior to his term as Vice Chairman, Ferg ...
had joined its board of directors.
In October 2021, Notarize was recognized by Forbes as a Next Billion Dollar Startup.
Services
Notarize offers online notary services through an app and web site that sets up a secure video chat with a licensed notary public. The app includes computer imaging technology and a software-based forensic analysis to authenticate the user's identity. Customers upload the document they need notarized, allowing the customer and notary to see the document being notarized. Notarize's platform requires consumers to pass an identity verification process in compliance with the notary's state law.
Operations
Notarize is based in Boston, Massachusetts but transitioned to a remote-first company during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company now employees more than 400 people who live in 41 states across the country.