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An online notarization business expanded into identity and transaction security, growing from $25 consumer sessions to a founder-reported revenue band approaching $100 million.
first $1M ARR around 2018 (host-reported) · thousands of customers · 220–230 employees · $260M raised
The moat was built by treating legal acceptance, not video calls, as the product: the team spent years turning state rules, document rejection and fraud requirements into reliable workflow software.
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Proof launched in 2015 as Notarize after founder Pat Kinsel had a poor experience trying to get a document notarized. The original consumer proposition was simple: upload a document, connect to an available online notary, and finish without searching for a local appointment. The service charged $25 per transaction for a long period. It had to educate consumers that this was legally valid online notarization, while working through state-by-state rules and documents that recipients sometimes rejected. The company first operated in Virginia, using notaries referred by Carol Ray, an online notary trainer whom co-founder Adam found through YouTube. Kinsel described 2019 as the first year the business became real, even though the host says it reached $1 million ARR around 2018; the founder also recalled gross margins of negative 110% while paying notaries to stay available. During COVID, order volume rose roughly 100 times, forcing a switch from employee notaries to a transaction-based network and software-led vetting. By 2023 the company had rebranded as Proof and broadened from notarization into identity verification and transaction security. The founder reports thousands of customers, tens of Fortune 100 companies, a 220–230 person team, $260 million raised, and revenue in the tens of millions approaching $100 million. These are interview claims, not audited results.
Proof’s first supply-side customers were notaries. Adam found Carol Ray, a California online notary trainer with a YouTube presence, and she referred a group of notaries in Virginia, then the one state where the company could operate.
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Data credibility: Founder Pat Kinsel reports the revenue band, customer count, headcount, capital raised, pandemic volume increase and historic gross margin; the host reports the approximate $1M ARR milestone around 2018. These claims are from an interview and are unaudited. The current revenue phrase is garbled as “tens approaching 100,” so it is presented as an approximate founder-reported band, not an exact figure. No financial statements or dashboard are shown.
The first commercial transaction was a consumer paying $25 for a single online notarization. Kinsel personally handled Intercom support and reassured hesitant customers who asked whether they could really complete the process online.
Proof’s reinforcing loop connected consumer usage to institutional adoption. Consumers completed online notarizations; document rejections and questions created conversations with title companies, underwriters, mortgage firms and financial institutions.
Proof faced a long education cycle and difficult unit economics before the market became easier to read. Online notarization was unfamiliar to consumers, recipients rejected documents, and jurisdiction-specific requirements made each use case demanding.
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