Israeli Behavioral Biometrics Firm BioCatch Nabs $20M From 4 Major Banks

Israeli-founded cybersecurity firm BioCatch announced on Wednesday that four major global banks – Barclays, Citi, HSBC and National Australia Bank (NAB) – are investing $20 million in the company, extending its recent Series C fundraising round to$168 million. Investors Industry Ventures and existing shareholders American Express Ventures, CreditEase, Maverick Ventures and OurCrowd participated in that round.

BioCatch was founded in 2011 by entrepreneurs Avi Turgeman and the late Benny Rosenbaum. With over 50 patents, the company delivers behavioral biometrics analyzing human-device interactions to protect users and data. Financial institutions and enterprise companies use BioCatch’s tech to reduce online fraud and protect against a variety of cyber threats.

“We are extremely excited that five of the largest and most important global financial institutions are working with BioCatch to jointly address today’s most pressing problems in the areas of online fraud, account authentication and digital identity,” said Howard Edelstein, BioCatch chairman and CEO. “We have already seen the power of collaboration in solving difficult problems in other areas of the financial services industry, such as clearing corps, transaction networks, post-trade processing, margin calculation and collateral management, when banks work together and share knowledge, workflow and data in the common interest.”  

Alongside the funding, BioCatch announced the establishment of the BioCatch Client Innovation Board, a collaborative forum where members will meet regularly to develop new, cutting-edge ways to leverage and scale the unique attributes of behavior.

The four investing banks and American Express Ventures will each be allocated two seats on the Client Innovation Board.

BioCatch said Innovation Board members will offer insights on the latest industry trends and ideas for new offerings and technology. One of the board’s key focus areas will be on the development of advanced solutions that stay ahead of online fraud and identity theft.

“The BioCatch Client Innovation Board is a novel, industry-led initiative focused on online behavior, which is a powerful method to protect banking customers and other internet users from online fraud,” said Dana Eli-Lorch, managing director at American Express Ventures. “Particularly as many businesses moved online with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing digital fraud has become more important than ever. We are very excited to join the effort and continue to support BioCatch both as an investor and Client Innovation Board member.”

Hilda Jenkins, head of customer for digital channels and platforms across mobile, web and API at Barclays, said “BioCatch is unique in focusing on behavior as a predictive tool to prevent online fraud and as a result can draw on a comprehensive data set to keep people safe.”

“BioCatch is defining a novel category in digital engagements and has an impressive success record in the financial industry,” said Ornit Shinar, Head of Ventures Investments in Citi Israel. “We are excited to add BioCatch to the Citi Ventures portfolio.”