BioCatch $145M Series C funding round to expand behavioral biometrics offerings and verticals served

BioCatch has closed a $145 million Series C investment round to broaden its portfolio of behavioral biometrics offerings, accelerate the company’s growth, and support the expansion of its client base into new verticals, according to a company announcement.

The funding round was led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, with participation from existing investors including American Express Ventures, CreditEase, Maverick Ventures and OurCrowd, and new investors including Industry Ventures.

The company’s behavioral biometrics are used to protect financial institutions and other organizations against criminal activities, including fraud and sophisticated social engineering voice scams, providing continuous protection throughout sessions for a secure and seamless online experience. BioCatch annual recurring revenues grew by 150 percent in 2019, and the company says it now serves more than 40 of the largest global financial institutions.

“BioCatch’s growth in annual recurring revenue and client base speaks directly to the growing demand for our service and the increasing number of use cases we are able to support,” says BioCatch Chairman and CEO Howard Edelstein. “The current environment has spawned a large increase in bad actors seeking to take advantage of distracted individuals working from home or dispersed companies whose technologists are scattered in remote locations. In such times, technologies like behavioral biometrics become more important than ever. We are also excited to partner with a leading technology investor like Bain Capital, as well as grateful for the continued confidence of our existing investors, who know the company better than anyone. We look forward to working together with this outstanding group of investors to further scale the company.”

The first eCommerce client was signed up by BioCatch in 2019, and a public sector launch is planned for 2020. The growing client base and data set have also enabled new use cases and solutions across the digital lifecycle, the company says in the announcement.

Bain Capital’s experience investing in the cybersecurity and financial technology sectors includes supporting Blue Coat, which was acquired by NortonLifeLock, InAuth, which was acquired by American Express, and WorldPay, which was acquired by FIS.

“BioCatch has quickly established itself as a pioneer in the digital identity space by developing next-generation behavioral biometrics technology that integrates fraud detection and authentication capabilities to protect end-users and their most sensitive transactions. Their technology is highly applicable to other verticals beyond financial services that have the same need to balance fraud and the user experience,” comments Bain Capital Tech Opportunities Managing Director Dewey Awad. “We look forward to partnering with Howard and his team to expand the platform while remaining focused on serving the needs of clients and their end-users around the world.”

In February, BioCatch acquired the multi-modal biometric authentication platform offered by AimBrain for an undisclosed price to boost its digital identity market position.

The global market for behavioral biometrics is forecast to reach $4 billion by 2025.

Article Topics

behavioral biometrics  |  BioCatch  |  biometrics  |  continuous authentication  |  cybersecurity  |  funding  |  investment