SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merit International, Inc., the leading digital verified identity company, announced today that it has appointed Ron Bouganim to the company’s Board of Directors. Bouganim is the Founder and Managing Partner of the Govtech Fund, the first-ever venture capital fund dedicated to government technology startups. The appointment comes on the heels of a breakthrough year for Merit, which saw the company contract with multiple state governments on initiatives ranging from Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) to emergency management and response following Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.
Merit’s verified identity platform brings visibility, liquidity, and trust to people-data, giving organizations the clarity to make better-informed decisions, engage with individuals effectively, and pursue their mission efficiently. Merit works with trusted private, state, and municipal organizations to solve critical real-world problems in sectors such as workforce development, emergency services, licensing, education, and defense readiness. By connecting organizations and individuals through applications, Merit’s technology supports a robust verified identity network that serves as a source of truth and trust for entire ecosystems.
“Merit’s focus — solving the verified identity problem — is a critical area that governments need to modernize,” said Ron Bouganim. “Merit has the single best shot at solving this critical problem. When Merit succeeds, the downstream impact within government will be massive.”
Govtech Fund’s portfolio of investment companies, including Merit, has worked with 35,000+ government agencies at the local, state and federal level in the United States to date. The Govtech Fund and its portfolio companies have built the single largest ecosystem of government agencies in the world, making Bouganim a natural fit for Merit’s board.
Merit recently expanded its own scope of government work with the October launch of ASPIRE (Alliance for States Providing Interoperable REciprocity), a technology solution aimed at ending the problem of interstate occupational license reciprocity, which financially encumbers military families in particular. The company was additionally a critical part of the government response to Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, which battered Florida in September and November, respectively.
“Ron understood Merit’s vision for the future from the very start,” shared Tomer Kagan, CEO and Co-Founder of Merit. “We were thrilled to have Govtech Fund as an early investor in Merit, and now we can strengthen our partnership with Ron by formally adding him to the Board.”
From enabling the spouses of military servicemembers to get to work following a relocation to solving logistical challenges during a live emergency, Merit’s verified identity technology is a versatile and powerful tool being adopted by all levels of government across the country. Merit and Ron look forward to continuing the important work of facilitating the modernization and strengthening of government technology initiatives.
To learn more about Merit, please visit Merits.com.
About Merit
Merit is the interoperable ecosystem for all digital credentials issued by trusted organizations. The platform allows everyone to access, track, and organize their licenses and credentials in real-time. Merit works with more than 1,000 organizations for professional licensing, occupational regulation, workforce development, emergency services, and other digital credentialing needs.
About Ron Bouganim
Ron is the founder and Managing Partner of the Govtech Fund: the first-ever venture fund focused on startups that are modernizing public services. Previously, as an active angel investor and advisor, Ron worked closely with more than twenty startups including ShareThrough, HelloSign, and PagerDuty.
