Revolutionizing the identity control sector
Alexandre Casagrande, the founder of Oneex, could have followed a well-trodden path when he was Director of Safety and Environmental Security at the Eiffel Tower. But that was without taking into account his desire to revolutionize the identity control sector.
After a twelve-year career with the DGSE’s “Service Action”, this Issoirien put his expertise in the world of security to good use for major groups such as Chanel, before returning to his studies in “Economic Intelligence and Corporate Security”. At the entrance to his school, he noticed that the scanner used to check his ID was managed by an American company, which was thus capturing strategic French information.
“No one in France was offering an alternative. So I created it.
It took Alexandre Casagrande four years to bring his first Oneex product to market in 2020. Four years of weekend research, in parallel with his job at the Eiffel Tower, which he will leave in 2021. Based in the Paris region at the time, he decided to move to Clermont-Ferrand that same year to “participate in the development of the Auvergne economic fabric”. This was followed by a round of fund-raising and a stint at the Village by CA business gas pedal in Puydom, where Oneex enjoyed strong growth, expanding into French and European markets and hiring a dozen employees. “Today, our ambition is to seek out international customers and to continue hiring in order to reach 30 employees next year”, explains the entrepreneur.
A technology unique in the world
Oneex’s growth is due in part to the fact that it offers “a technology that is unique in the world”, enabling forged identity documents from 197 countries to be detected “in less than 10 seconds”. Easy to use, it comes in the form of a portable case, an automatic terminal or a desktop scanner, all assembled in Clermont-Ferrand.
“Our technology improves and simplifies the control work of reception staff, security guards or even internal security forces.” Every year, Oneex scans “millions of documents”, helping its customers to avoid legal fraud, credit fraud or industrial espionage. With “50% from the defense industry”, their clientele also includes numerous banks, luxury houses and major industrial groups such as Safran and Airbus.