How did electronic signatures develop rapidly?

The market size continues to grow rapidly

Electronic signature refers to the data contained in the data message in electronic form and attached to identify the signer's identity and indicate that the signer recognizes the content. In layman's terms, an electronic signature is an electronic signature of an electronic document through cryptographic technology, not a digital image of a written signature.

In recent years, my country's e-commerce and e-government have developed rapidly, and the resulting network authentication and security issues have become increasingly prominent. Due to the lack of a unified online security certification system, it is extremely difficult for legal workers to investigate and collect evidence and distinguish right from wrong when resolving disputes arising from online transactions.

The emergence of electronic signatures is to solve the legal obstacles in the development of e-commerce and e-government, that is, the problem of signing and sealing electronic documents. In August 2004, the Electronic Signature Law of the People's Republic of China was passed and came into effect on April 1 of the following year. This law gave electronic signatures the same legal effect as text signatures for the first time and clarified the market for electronic certification services. The access system provides legal protection for the security of online information transmission and electronic transactions.

With the gradual rise of e-commerce and e-government, the electronic signature industry has also ushered in a new stage of development and gradually penetrated into other fields. For example, the "Interim Measures for the Management of Business Activities of Online Lending Information Intermediaries" jointly issued by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Cyberspace Administration of China in 2016 stipulates that the basic information and transaction information of lenders and borrowers need to be processed using electronic signatures, Electronic storage of certificates. Under the new regulatory requirements, electronic signatures have been widely used in the field of Internet finance.

According to Sootoo survey data, the current main application scenarios of electronic signatures include government affairs, finance, logistics, medical care, and manufacturing. Among them, government affairs applications account for the largest proportion, about 79.7%; followed by logistics, about 53.7% %.

In addition to the rich application scenarios, the boundaries of electronic signature industry services have also been further broadened. Relevant companies are providing value-added legal services related to electronic signatures, including preservation and notarization services, judicial appraisals, and online arbitration.

The expansion of application fields and service scope is driving the continued rapid growth of my country's electronic signature industry. According to Sootoo data, in 2014, the size of my country's electronic signature market was approximately 20 million yuan. By 2018, the size of the electronic signature market had reached 870 million yuan, an increase of more than 400% compared with 2014.

Leading companies will occupy more shares

In 2012, the third-party electronic signature service platforms e-Signature and One-Signature were officially launched. In 2013, Integrity Signing and Crowd Signing were launched. In 2014 In 2019, China Cloud Signature and Shangshang Signature were officially launched. During this period, the electronic signature service platform was in the early stages of industry development, with a small number of platforms and relatively mild competition.

After 2015, the electronic signature industry entered the market start-up period, and start-up companies focusing on electronic signature applications were established one after another, including AnxinSign, QuickSign, No.1Sign, EveryoneSign, WenSign, and QuickSign , cloud contract, signature collection, signature bar, etc. At this time, market competition is gradually heating up.

But just two years later, the industry began to undergo consolidation. The landmark event was the comprehensive acquisition of the Kuaishou business by Shangshangshuo in November 2017. Entering 2018, competition in the electronic signature industry has intensified again, and capital has begun to focus on leading companies. Only four companies have received financing, namely eShanbao, ShangShangShang, Fada and Zhongshu.

Among them, Shangshangshuo received 100 million yuan in Series B financing from Morningside Capital, Matrix Partners China, DCM China, and Shunwei Capital in March, and then received investment from Tiger Global Fund in August. , Matrix Partners China, DCM, and Morningside Capital participated in the 358 million Series C financing; and Fada received nearly 100 million yuan in Series B+ financing from Yuanjing Capital, Huifu Venture Capital, Hemeng Ventures, and Bojiang Capital in June Financing, and in March this year, it received 398 million Series C financing from Tiger Global Fund, Tencent, Ruisheng Investment, and Yuanjing Capital.

At present, enterprises’ awareness of electronic signatures is still at a low level, but brand influence and technical strength are still important reference factors for enterprises to choose third-party electronic signatures. Because in the future, leading companies in the electronic signature industry are expected to occupy more shares with their own brand influence and technical strength, and market concentration will further increase.

——For more data, please refer to the "China Electronic Certification Service Industry Market Demand Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report" released by the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.