British anti-fraud startup Quantexa nears unicorn status after $153m funding round
Quantexa, a British tech startup specialising in anti-fraud software, is closing in on unicorn status after raising $153m (£110m) in fresh funding.
The Series D funding round, led by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, values Quantexa at more than $900m.
Existing investors including Dawn Capital, Albion VC, HSBC, and ABN AMRO Ventures also contributed to the cash injection.
The backing, which follows a Series C round last July, will come as a major boost to Quantexa, whose data analytics platform is used to tackle fraud and white collar crime.
It counts blue-chip banks — including HSBC and Standard Chartered — insurers and governments among its clients. It also has partnerships with companies including Deloitte, Accenture, Microsoft and Google.
The company said it will use the investment to accelerate its growth plans and expand its software further in areas like data management, as well as new industries including banking, insurance, TMT and the public sector.
Quantexa will also use the funds to pursue potential acquisition opportunities.
“What excites us most is the growing demand we see across sectors for enterprises to realise meaningful value from their data across the organisation,” said chief executive Vishal Marria.
“Quantexa is supporting customer innovation so they can make trusted operational decisions.”
The backing puts Quantexa within touching distance of unicorn status — the title given to private companies valued at $1bn or more.
The UK recently passed the milestone of 100 tech unicorns amid booming venture capital investment in the sector.
It comes amid reports that the EU is preparing to set up a new anti-money laundering watchdog as the bloc looks to crack down on financial crime.