SEON, a rapidly growing startup that fights against fraud and cybercrime, raised $94 million in Series B funding led by IVP, with existing investors Creandum and PortfoLion also participating.
This funding – announced in April 2022 – has followed the previous Series A funding, where they managed to raise $12 million from Creandum, a venture capital firm, and PortfoLion, part of OTP Bank. This capital is to be used to expand SEON’s presence to North America, LATAM, and the APAC region and open them a way to become the global market leader in the area of online fraud prevention.
Growing risk of online dangers
Fraud is no longer an unfamiliar concept we hear about in the news or in the movies; it has become a permanent part of our lives. There is no individual, business, or organization with an online presence that is not in danger of fraudsters and cybercriminals exploiting it for their benefit. With the development of the internet and significant growth in online presence in both individuals and businesses, the dangers will only continue to grow exponentially. The biggest problem with the increasing risk of online threats is that no one is safe. Fraudsters don’t discriminate against their victims and will attack just about any business sector, from finance, health care, gaming, e-commerce to many others.
While all business sectors are in danger, the truth is that any business dealing with payment information is at greater risk. They present a double gain for fraudsters that can get their hands on confidential information while stealing money. As a result companies like SEON have started providing credit card fraud detection to tackle this issue. Fraudsters are constantly trying to come up with new, more sophisticated attacks that are getting even harder to discover and prevent, especially for businesses that do not have adequate protection strategies in place. If you want to have a successful business and maintain a positive relationship with your clients, having a weak or nonexistent cybersecurity strategy is no longer an option. Just remember, fraudulent attempts can have even worse consequences than fraudsters stealing your money, and they will cause long-term damage.
Possible consequences of fraudulent attacks on businesses
- Money loss in revenue
- Having to pay to resolve issues within the company
- Reputation damage
- Administration fees
- Difficulties with employee retention and attracting new employees
- Loss of future businesses relationships
If the company wants to stay in business, it is essential to stop the fraudsters before they can cause this damage. This funding will not only help SEON expand globally, but it will also help make the internet a safer place for everyone.
How did this all start?
It all started when two students, Tamas Kadar and Bence Jendruszak, met at the Corvinus University of Budapest. They quickly became friends and discovered their shared interest in cryptocurrency, which inspired them to start a crypto exchange for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), their first joint venture. Even though their idea was innovative and destined for success, fraudsters ensured it didn’t happen. From the moment their crypto exchange went live, fraudsters started coming up with ways of exploiting it. Having to deal with constant fraudulent attempts, they begin to wonder about fraud prevention. While there were some fraud prevention companies available, they weren’t a right fit for them as they couldn’t adapt to the requirements of high-risk businesses such as gaming, gambling, or crypto exchange. Once Tamas and Bence discovered the lack of fraud prevention solutions, they decided to do something about it and created their own.
Soon, the story about the effectiveness of their fraud management solution spread among businesses in similar situations prompting them to start SEON. And, as it seems, they were on the right track, as today they have over 5,000 customers worldwide and offices in London, Budapest, Jakarta, and Austin, with additional plans of expanding with the help of the Series B funding. Currently they cater to clients from different sectors, from crypto or gaming to financial institutions and eCommerce businesses, with their client list including Patreon, Revolut, NuBank, Ladbrokes, and airlines such as AirFrance and KLM. With the help of the funding, they hope to reach even more clients and bring them effective but budget-friendly fraud prevention solutions.
How can we make the online world a safer place?
Due to their own experience with a crypto exchange, their founders know how important it is for a fraud prevention strategy to be the right fit for a company. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution; instead, it needs to be flexible and adapt to various requirements different businesses will have. Businesses provide different services and target different customers. Why would we assume they will all face the same online dangers, especially in this modern age where malicious actors constantly come up with new sophisticated methods? According to Mcafee, there are 480 new high-tech threats being introduced every minute, and it is time we put an end to it.
Companies need to start taking proactive steps to fight against this growing threat, and implementing effective fraud prevention solutions is the first one. This allows businesses to protect themselves by providing them with a flexible yet accessible fraud prevention solution that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to work in real-time. It is no wonder they have managed to become the world’s fastest-growing fraud prevention company. They create their fraud prevention strategy by utilizing various fraud prevention tools to get the best results and to ensure every company finds the best fit for them and their risk level. By using data enrichment, device and browser fingerprinting, email and social media lookup tools, and other methods they have in their arsenal, they can provide real-time fraud prevention that causes zero user friction. This also ensures that the company implementing these solutions can concentrate on growing the business instead of worrying about where the next attack will come.
Fraud prevention is no longer something only the big players on the market can afford. SEON’s accessible fraud prevention tools ensure that every company, regardless of its size, can find an effective strategy to protect itself and its clients from the increasing risk of malicious actors.