The round is led by Imperial Innovations.
Featurespace, a Cambridge University spin-out, has closed a £3m ($5m) funding round. The round was led by existing investor Imperial Innovations, which invested £1.7m ($2.9m). Imperial is joined by previous investors Nesta and a number of members of the Cambridge Angels group.
Imperial Innovations, the technology transfer company of Imperial College London, now holds a 22.1% equity stake in the behavioural analytics business. It previously participated in the 2012 funding round, in which the company raised £1.5m ($2.56m), when it invested £750,000 ($1.28m).
Featurespace is developing behavioural analytics based on Bayesian statistics and proprietary algorithms to predict what an individual or group will do next based on normal patterns of behaviour. The technology is based on research by Cambridge professor Bill Fitzgerald and Featurespace’s chief technology officer David Excell. The company hopes the technology will detect and prevent fraud. It also uses real-time analysis of customer data to let companies identify churning customers and target them through individualised marketing.
The company has closed deals for its fraud detection product with Vocalink’s Zapp – a provider of payment systems – and Callcredit Information Group – focussing on consumer information management – as well as Betfair – an online betting platform. It will use the new funds to expand its customer base across various sectors.
