Welcome to our blog series, “Meet a CoMotion Labs Member.” These posts offer a peek into the groundbreaking work CoMotion Labs startups do and why they do it here. CoMotion Labs provides a multi-industry incubation environment for early-stage startups with a focus on UW spinoffs. Stay tuned for profiles about startups who work in one of our three locations on the UW Seattle campus — two in Fluke Hall and one in Startup Hall. Each lab focuses on a particular industry sector: life sciences and hardware in Fluke Hall, and technology in Startup Hall.
Cozera
Abrar Ahmed, CEO Cozera
Where: BECU FinTech Incubator at CoMotion Labs (virtual)
Joined: July 2020
Who:
- Abrar Ahmed – CEO
- Matt Wangler – VP Operations
- Eric Hopper – VP Engineering
What is your startup all about?
Cozera offers a user controlled, verified digital identity for remote and in-person identity authentication to improve user experience, protect privacy, deter fraud and provide operational savings of time and money.
What problem do you solve?
We solve the problem of making identity verification less frustrating, more efficient and more secure for consumers and enterprises.
What’s the latest?
We have launched our service with our first customers (good to see recurring revenue 
), closed our first investor funding round and signed up a national reseller for our service.
Do you have any startup advice?
Validation of what your startup is offering is key to making progress with investors. We recommend not asking investors to fund a concept that has yet to be validated by customers. This may seem obvious, but we have seen more than one entrepreneur pitch a concept that has not been validated by customers and get no traction with investors. To get investors interested, you must be offering something your customers have validated addresses a real need they have.
Connect with Cozera
Web: www.cozera.io
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cozera/
Twitter: @Cozera1
Want to incubate your startup here?
About CoMotion Labs: CoMotion Labs, a self-sustaining membership-supported program of UW CoMotion, provides a multi-industry incubation environment for early-stage startups with a focus on UW spinoffs. From critical infrastructure (desks, dry benches, wet lab space, and prototyping capabilities) to just-in-time learning, mentoring, and networking, CoMotion Labs nurtures company growth and enables success. Our labs are currently home to over 100 startups and operate in two locations on the UW Seattle campus.