# Rodger Desai

> Rodger Desai is the New York-based co-founder and CEO of Prove, formerly Payfone. His career spans engineering, telecommunications, Vettro and Rave Wireless, with additional work supporting mobile microfinance initiatives. He advocates phone-based authentication that combines security, privacy and ease of use, and serves on the board of Freedom House.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Prove
- **Organizations:** Prove, Payfone, Vettro, Rave Wireless / Rave Mobile Safety, Accenture, General Electric, ExxonMobil, Freedom House
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Attended MBA program; completion not established by primary biographies, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Prove., Previously co-founded and led Vettro and Rave Wireless., 2023 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year New York award winner.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2004** — Held engineering management roles at ExxonMobil and GE, worked in Accenture’s telecom practice, and co-founded Vettro.
- **2004** — Co-founded Rave Wireless in November.
- **2008** — Co-founded Payfone, later renamed Prove.
- **2020** — Payfone announced a $100 million investment led by Apax Digital in June; adopted the Prove name in July and acquired Early Warning’s Authentify business.
- **2023** — Won EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year New York award; Prove raised $40 million in October.
- **2025** — Included in Okta’s Identity 25.
- **2026** — Continued public advocacy for low-friction authentication and stronger identity controls for AI.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Prove.
- Previously co-founded and led Vettro and Rave Wireless.
- 2023 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year New York award winner.
- 2025 Okta Identity 25 honoree.
- Freedom House board member.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Prove published an announcement extending SIM-based silent authentication to supported Wi-Fi and mobile web flows.
- **2026-07** — Desai argued in a Liminal article that extra friction can burden legitimate customers without deterring motivated fraudsters.
- **2026-06** — His Prove author page listed The Access Layer Is Now a National Security Asset, discussing identity and advanced AI access.

## Links

- Website: https://www.prove.com/author/rodger-desai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodgerdesai
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodger.desai

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rodger-desai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-16