# Blake Hall

> Blake Hall is the co-founder and CEO of ID.me, a digital identity wallet that grew from a venture serving military families into a network used by more than 170 million people, according to September 2026 company announcements. A former U.S. Army officer, Iraq veteran and Harvard MBA, he focuses on reusable identity, fraud prevention and access to online services.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at ID.me
- **Organizations:** ID.me, United States Army, Vanderbilt University Institute of National Security
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude; American history and economics, Vanderbilt University, MBA, Harvard Business School, Ranger School graduate, United States Army Ranger School, Airborne School graduate, United States Army Airborne School
- **Known for:** Awarded two Bronze Stars, including one for valor, for Army service in Iraq., Led more than 450 combat patrols without casualties in his platoon or attachments, according to his published biography., Named CEO of the Year by One World Identity in 2019.

## Career timeline

- **2004** — Graduated from Vanderbilt University and subsequently served as a U.S. Army officer.
- **2006-2007** — Led a reconnaissance platoon in Iraq during a fifteen-month deployment.
- **2010** — Co-founded the venture initially known as TroopSwap with Matt Thompson.
- **2012** — The venture shifted toward military-affiliation verification through Troop ID.
- **2013** — Rebranded as ID.me and expanded beyond military verification.
- **2018** — Developed video-based identity proofing with work involving NIST and Veterans Affairs.
- **2022** — Apologized for mischaracterizing the scope of ID.me facial recognition; won an EY Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneur Of The Year award.
- **2025** — Named an inaugural Vanderbilt National Security Fellow; ID.me announced $340 million across Series E financing and a recent credit facility.
- **2026** — ID.me announced a Plaid partnership for government benefit payments and new legal and engineering leadership.

## Achievements

- Awarded two Bronze Stars, including one for valor, for Army service in Iraq.
- Led more than 450 combat patrols without casualties in his platoon or attachments, according to his published biography.
- Named CEO of the Year by One World Identity in 2019.
- Received Vanderbilt’s Young Alumni Achievement Award in 2020.
- Recognized as an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for the Mid-Atlantic region in 2022.
- Named an inaugural Vanderbilt Institute of National Security Fellow in 2025.
- Listed as an inventor on eleven authentication and identity patents in his World Economic Forum biography.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — ID.me announced its partnership with Plaid on September 15 to combine identity and receiving-bank-account verification for government benefit payments; it reported more than 170 million users.
- **2026-09** — ID.me announced Susannah Stroud Wright as chief legal officer and Darragh Whelan as executive vice president of engineering on September 28.
- **2025-10** — Vanderbilt published an account of Hall’s September 25 appearance launching its Plot Twist speaker series.
- **2025-09** — ID.me announced $340 million in combined Series E financing and a recent credit facility at a valuation above $2 billion.
- **2025-03** — Vanderbilt named its inaugural National Security Fellows cohort, including Hall.

## Links

- Website: https://www.id.me/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hallblake
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/blake_hall

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/blake-hall
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-14