WALL, N.J. and LAGOS, Nigeria, March 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIO-key International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKYI), an innovative provider of Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions featuring Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB), today announced a strategic partnership with Ethnos IT Solutions to bring innovative IAM solutions to customers across Africa who are looking to enhance their cybersecurity with improved access security and seamless user experiences.

Ethnos is Africa�s leading cybersecurity and compliance management company. As a Value-Added Reseller, they provide Information Security, Risk Management, Cybersecurity and Compliance Management solutions to small and mid-sized enterprises, corporations, and government institutions across Africa, with a focus on the Banking, Fintech, Telecom, Education, and Oil and Gas sectors. The partnership with Ethnos further strengthens the international presence of BIO-key�s IAM and Identity-Bound Biometric solutions.

Ethnos joins BIO-key�s global Channel Alliance Partner (CAP) program which makes it easy for partners to develop new recurring revenue streams via BIO-key�s full line of solutions, including its award-winning PortalGuard� platform. PortalGuard supports multi-factor authentication with unique IBB methods, single sign-on, and self-service password reset, along with hardware solutions, such as fingerprint scanners and FIDO-key� security keys. BIO-key solutions provide customers with unparalleled flexibility in securing all their access management needs and use cases.

"We are very excited to partner with BIO-key. As renowned Cybersecurity experts and a leading Value-Added Reseller, this collaboration expands our capabilities and market reach and reinforces our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to our customers," said Peter Ejiofor, CEO of Ethnos.

"With this partnership we look forward to expanding our international channel program," said Jos� Franc�s, VP of Sales for Africa, Europe, and Brazil at BIO-key. "With Ethnos we have the ability to provide our unique IAM and Identity-Bound Biometrics solutions to their customers across Africa, leveraging their reputation as a trusted VAR and respected leader in the cybersecurity market."

About BIO-key International, Inc. (www.BIO-key.com)
BIO-key is revolutionizing authentication and cybersecurity with biometric-centric, multi-factor identity and access management (IAM) software managing millions of users. Its cloud-based PortalGuard IAM solution provides cost-effective, easy to deploy, convenient and secure access to devices, information, applications, and high-value transactions. BIO-key's patented software and hardware solutions, with industry-leading Identity-Bound Biometric (IBB) capabilities, enable large-scale Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) solutions, as well as customized on premises solutions.

About Ethnos IT Solutions (https://ethnos.com.ng/)
Ethnos IT Solutions has over a decade of experience helping businesses across Africa to prepare, eliminate, manage and respond swiftly to cyber-attacks. The Company help organizations to guard their assets against cyber-attacks by providing custom solutions that help customers deliver top-value to their stakeholders by protecting assets and enhancing their business performance through Security Engineering, Governance, Risk and Compliance, Managed Security Services, and Trainings.

BIO-key Safe Harbor Statement
All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical facts are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). The words "estimate," "project," "intends," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Act. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue; our ability to raise additional capital; our ability to protect our intellectual property; changes in business conditions; changes in our sales strategy and product development plans; changes in the marketplace; continued services of our executive management team; security breaches; competition in the biometric technology industry; market acceptance of biometric products generally and our products under development; the duration and severity of the current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our business operations, sales cycles, personnel, and the geographic markets in which we operate; delays in the development of products and statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing as well as other factors set forth under the caption see "Risk Factors'' in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, there may be other factors of which the Company is not currently aware that may affect matters discussed in forward-looking statements and may also cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. In particular, the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak to economic conditions and the industry in general and the financial position and operating results of our Company, in particular, have been material, are changing rapidly, and cannot be predicted.

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Investor Contacts
William Jones, David Collins
Catalyst IR
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