Featurespace, a UK-based adaptive behavioural analytics spinout from University of Cambridge, raised £16.5m ($21.7m) in funding yesterday from investors including payment processing firm Worldpay.
The round was led by technology fund Highland Europe, with additional participation from investment firm Invoke Capital and Touchstone Innovations, the commercialisation firm spun out from Imperial College London that was formerly known as Imperial Innovations.
Featurespace has developed behavioural analytics software that uses machine learning to prevent fraud. The platform, Aric, is able to detect unusual behaviour in high-volume, real-time consumer interactions and thwarts fraudulent activities.
The funding will allow the spinout to drive revenues through direct sales and partnership agreements. It will also support international expansion efforts, which the company has already launched with the opening of offices in New York and North Carolina.
The technology is based on research by the late Bill Fitzgerald, who was head of signal processing and applied statistics at Cambridge, and his PhD candidate Dave Excell.
Martina King, CEO of Featurespace, said: “We are working with our clients to protect businesses and consumers in the fight against fraud. This funding round will enable us to continue to grow our business internationally, building on our progress as a leader in machine learning fraud prevention.”
Touchstone provided £1.4m of the capital in the round and now holds a 27.9% stake in Featurespace, having initially contributed to a £1.5m round in 2012 alongside charity Nesta, members of Cambridge Angels, Cambridge Capital Group and Mike Lynch, a non-executive director of Featurespace.
Featurespace raised $5m in a Touchstone-led round in 2014 that included Nesta and investors from Cambridge Angels, before adding $9m in funding in June 2016 from Touchstone Innovations, TTV Capital, Nesta and assorted Cambridge Angels members.
– The original version of this story appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.