HYPR and IceKredit signed funding rounds. Regtech product launches were also announced by TTEC, iCIMS, CNote, Red Oak, Buckley LLP and Revelock.
This week, a jury spent roughly ten hours deliberating whether former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was responsible for the death of George Floyd. The guilty verdict jurors returned on April 20 was celebrated by civil rights activists around the world, and marks the culmination of a new chapter in a push for equity that has been felt by individuals, companies, and governments alike. That change is apparent in the regtech sector, too. This week, three companies launched new products and services focusing on DEI efforts. In addition, major funding rounds were announced for cybersecurity and risk management solutions.
HYPR, Committed to Eliminating Passwords, Announces $35 Million Series C
HYPR’s thesis statement is that customer and employee password-authentication represents a massive cybersecurity risk. The company employs users’ mobile devices, equipped with facial recognition technology, to provide a password-less single sign on function that can operate across services and platforms. On April 20, the company raised a $35 million Series C.
“Removing passwords for customers and employees eliminates a critical cybersecurity vulnerability, lowers IT support costs, and improves the overall user experience,” said Ashwin Krishnan of Advent International, which led the funding round, in a statement.
HYPR is excited to announce our $35M Series C Led by Advent International. This round enables us to grow our team and empower our customers across the globe. Thank you to all of our teammates, customers and investors who made this possible.https://t.co/G6Ks3g2oxl
— HYPR (@HyprCorp) April 21, 2021
The Series C raises HYPR’s total funding to over $70 million. The company says it plans to use the funds to roughly double its workforce and accelerate its go-to-market strategy. Previous investors include Top Tier Capital, Samsung NEXT, BOLDStart, Mastercard, Alumni Ventures, RRE Ventures, MESH, Allen & Co. and 406 Ventures.
The COVID-19 pandemic provided a surge in growth for the company, as teams around the world began to work remotely. Its annual revenue has roughly tripled since its previous funding round in October 2019. Over that period, it doubled its customer base and signed on clients like Rakuten, City National Bank, CVS Health and Norwegian Airlines.
“When we partnered as a first check investor in HYPR, the phrase “passwordless” was relatively unknown. Today the space has heated up tremendously as enterprises scramble to eliminate passwords, especially in light of the pandemic,” said BOLDStart Ventures Founder Ed Sim, in a statement. “The HYPR team saw where the puck was heading and we couldn’t be prouder of what they’ve built or more excited about the path forward with Advent, an ideal partner given their cybersecurity experience.”
AI Risk Management Provider IceKredit Raise $35 Million Series C2
IceKredit, which develops personal and enterprise risk management services, raised a Series C2 round worth $35 million on April 19. The round was led by the VC firm Guochuang Zhongding. Both parties are based in Shanghai.
IceKredit primarily serves banks and various financial service providers. In addition to analyzing risk, its platform also provides decision-making and customer acquisition tools.
The company currently holds 31 patents and has a further 34 pending. It says it plans to use the funds for additional R&D and to improve its software development process.
To date, IceKredit has raised roughly $163 million in funding. Investors Ally Capital and Oriental Fortune Capital also joined the latest round.
Hire, Train and Invest in DEI Goals with Online Platforms and AI
Diversity, equity and inclusion marks a growing focus for companies across sectors. Concurrent with the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin in the trial for the murder of George Floyd, AI tech developers are making the pitch that advancing these goals is best accomplished—or at least augmented—with automation.
On April 20, TTEC launched its Humanify DEI+BOT product. The company describes itself as a customer and employee experience as a service provider. The new product taps machine learning to deliver DEI training to employees. It is intended to augment in-person diversity and inclusion training. Topics involving race, gender, religion and mental health are currently available. Further modules focusing on sexual orientation, disability and age are set to go live over the course of the next few months.
On the same day, the talent management software provider iCIMS announced a range new AI capabilities with its services optimized to expand the diversity in a company’s workforce. Thanks to recent acquisitions, the company is now tapping automated systems to better identify diverse talent, create better-informed candidate profiles and track DEI hiring analytics, among other updates.
Also on April 20, the women-led CNote unveiled a new service that will allow CFOs and boards to further DEI and ESG impact investing goals. The fintech provider says it has the capability to customize a corporation’s portfolio, selecting for region and focus.
“Corporations are facing mounting pressure as shareholders, employees and customers call on them to address racial, gender and community disparities. Investing corporate funds to specifically target impact goals is low-hanging fruit for business leaders looking to gain a competitive edge,” said CNote CEO Catherine Berman, in a statement.
In 2019, CNote launched the Wisdom Fund, an investment vehicle that increases capital access and lending for women-owned businesses. Last week we released an update on our findings, progress, and lessons learned.
@ICAFundGoodJobs @impactXperience https://t.co/BTA3vp6Jgc
— CNote (@goCNote) April 21, 2021
Buckley LLP Launches Compliance Platform Winnow
The financial services law firm Buckley LLP launched an offshoot regtech provider, Winnow, providing a customizable compliance platform on April 20. The word winnow refers to a preindustrial method of separating wheat from chaff. Businesses can use Buckley’s new platform to winnow regulations – or at least track a custom set of state laws, including requirements regarding services offered, business type and licenses.
“The financial services compliance and research space is ripe for disruption and for the enhanced use of cost-saving technology to deliver customized results …” said Clinton Rockwell, managing partner of Buckley LLP’s California offices, in a statement.
Red Oak Unveils Advertising Licensing and Registration Management Automated Module
Red Oak Compliance Solutions develops advertising compliance technology for the finance industry. On April 21, the company announced Smart Registration. The new service allows businesses to track a variety of moving parts, such as licenses, deadlines and expirations, organizational structures, continuing education credits and more. The software also connects with FINRA and provides automated CRD filings.
bugaroo Rebrands as Revelock, Launches New Fraud Detection and Response Platform
The Madrid-based bugaroo, which provides know-your-customer (KYC) and fraud prevention services, rebranded as Revelock and launched an updated platform on April 21. The company collects a range of biometric, behavioral, network and device data to secure online banking and financial systems. Its AI system monitors a user activity like account creation and transactions to verify their identity.
The combination of this monitoring is designed to stop common tactics like new account creation, account takeover, and ‘card not present’ fraud. Revelock has also formed a new advisory board to provide guidance going forward.
Do you have regtech news to share? Send press releases and announcements to henry [at] corporatecomplianceinsights [dot] com.
Henry Kronk is the former Managing Editor of Corporate Compliance Insights. His previous reporting has appeared in Exclaim!, the Burlington Free Press, International DJ, eLearning Inside and more. He produced the radio show Code Burst — an investigation into a coding bootcamp that sought to retrain out-of-work coal miners for jobs in tech — for CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal.
