ThetaRay, a US-based developer of artificial intelligence (AI)-equipped security technology, received more than $30m in funding on Tuesday from investors including power, automation and industrial equipment producer General Electric (GE).
Financial services firm Bank Hapoalim, venture capital firm Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), crowdfunded VC platform OurCrowd and SVB Investments, a subsidiary of venture debt provider Silicon Valley Bank, also took part in the oversubscribed round.
ThetaRay provides AI and machine learning technology that helps clients identify potential areas of risk in their organisation, enabling them to discover and prevent issues such as money laundering or fraudulent activities.
Proceeds from the round, which doubled ThetaRay’s overall funding to $60m, will be used for recruitment, as the company looks to expand operations and grow its activities in Europe and Asia as well as in its home country.
Mark Gazit, ThetaRay’s chief executive, said: “In this era when criminal activity and money laundering are increasing and becoming more sophisticated and also regulation is on the rise, there is a greater demand for our solutions.
“As the amount of digital information grows, you just can’t protect it without artificial intelligence systems. ThetaRay offers the most advanced and mature solutions to detect threats before they happen.”
JVP was already an investor in ThetaRay when GE provided an undisclosed amount of funding for the company in 2013, a deal that was followed by an investment of undisclosed size by Bank Hapaolim subsidiary Poalim Capital Markets in early 2014.
All three combined for ThetaRay’s $10m series B round later in 2014. E-commerce group Alibaba reportedly invested $5m in the company in 2015 as part of a round expected to reach $20m with participation from GE, Poalim Capital Markets and JVP.