ThreatMetrix Lands $12.1 Million Series C Financing
Tenaya Capital focuses exclusively on breakthrough technology companies
October 5, 2010
PRESS RELEASE
LOS ALTOS, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/05/10 -- ThreatMetrix(TM), the fastest-growing provider of fraud prevention solutions that do not require personally identifiable information (PII), today announced that is has secured $12.1 million in financing in a Series C round led by Tenaya Capital. Tenaya Capital, formerly Lehman Brothers Ventures, is a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm which focuses exclusively on breakthrough technology companies. Tenaya's past and current investments include such leading companies as Isilon, Endeca, Cast Iron, Lithium, and Green Dot. ThreatMetrix' existing investors, which include U.S. Venture Partners, CM Capital and TVP, also fully participated in the round.
"The multi-billion dollar IT security industry continues to rapidly expand due to the growing wave of global cybercrime," said Ben Boyer, managing director, Tenaya Capital. "The principal highway for today's cybercriminals is the Internet where a fraudster using a stolen or synthetic identity can easily compromise bank accounts, Internet retailers, and members on social networking sites. ThreatMetrix' solutions have translated into rapid customer and partner adoption in markets around the world with their ThreatMetrix Fraud Network which is used by leading financial services, e-commerce, travel, ticketing, Web 2.0 and payments companies."
The scale of Internet fraud is sizeable and growing by every measure. According to CyberSource's 11th Annual Fraud Report (352 U.S. and Canadian merchants), Internet retailers lost more than $3.3 billion to fraud last year and Javelin Strategy & Research 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report stated that more than $48 billion was lost as a result of identity fraud. In fact, the numbers associated with these and other fraud reports are probably under reported as most merchants and the industry are reluctant to report the true extent of their losses due to fraud.
Following are representative scenarios in which the ThreatMetrix Fraud Network is used to stop fraud:
-- Financial services: Fraudsters compromise online bank accounts using stolen credentials to gain access to a customer's account, or create new accounts (account origination) to apply for credit cards, or bank and trading accounts including loans for autos, mortgages and education. -- Social media: Social gaming fraudsters use bots to automate the process of opening many fraudulent new accounts and to exploit repetitive elements in a game (gold farming) so they can build up a pile of in-game currency and items -- then try to sell their virtual "gold" in exchange for real-world currency. -- Online dating: Scammers create bogus "flirty" accounts to prey on good members. Fraudsters gain the trust of unsuspecting members in order to recruit them as "mules" to transfer stolen goods or funds. -- Online gaming: Criminals test or "taste" their inventory of stolen credit cards on online gaming sites to secure real-time feedback as to whether the stolen credit cards are legitimate or have been placed on a watch list. -- Payment processors: The challenge for these businesses is to meet customer demands for fast, reliable, convenient payments or money transfers while at the same time protecting their customers from becoming victims of fraud.
"We're pleased to have a firm of Tenaya Capital's quality and track record join the ThreatMetrix investment team," said Reed Taussig, president and CEO, ThreatMetrix. "Over the course of the last 18 months we've brought on board over 250 customers who use our ThreatMetrix Fraud Network to stop online fraud to verify new accounts, authorize card-not-present payments and authenticate user logins. We anticipate using the funding for general operating capital, expansion of our product offering, and sales and marketing."
Following are some of the key areas highlighting ThreatMetrix success in 2010:
-- New markets: Expanded financial services and Web 2.0 markets with new account origination solution. Able to identify suspect Web transactions without PII -- a key customer requirement. -- Customer adoption: Brought on board over 250 customers in the last 18 months including Offerpal Media, GoPro, Adknowledge, BillMyParents, BigCrumbs.com, OnlineLabels.com, and Pagosonline. -- Partner ecosystem: Expanded partnerships with resellers in China, Japan, India, France and Australia. -- Operational excellence: Opened a new data center in the United Kingdom to meet increasing European customer demand. Achieved certification as compliant with the United States -- European Union (EU) Safe Harbor Framework reconfirming ThreatMetrix' ongoing commitment to protect the privacy of individuals in Europe and the United States. -- International growth: Expanded customer footprint in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia. Today, 33% of all ThreatMetrix Fraud Network transactions originate from offshore customers.
To view a web-based ThreatMetrix Fraud Network demo, go to: http://info.threatmetrix.com/ThreatMetrix-Product-Tour
To view a video on the ThreatMetrix Fraud Network, visit: http://threatmetrix.com/resource-center/videos-and-demos/introducing-the-threatmetrix-fraud-network/
To read a whitepaper on the ThreatMetrix Fraud Network, visit: http://info.threatmetrix.com/ThreatMetrix-fraud-network.html
About Tenaya Capital Tenaya Capital is a leading venture capital firm with offices in Menlo Park, California, and Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1995 as Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, they became an independent company in 2009. Over the years they've raised five funds representing over $1 billion of committed capital, investing in a wide range of high-growth technology companies including software, consumer Internet, communications, semiconductors, electronics, and cleantech. For more information, visit www.tenayacapital.com.
About ThreatMetrix ThreatMetrix helps companies stop web fraud and enable e-commerce in real-time so they can significantly reduce online fraud, acquire more customers faster, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction. The ThreatMetrix Fraud Network helps online businesses verify new accounts, authorize payments and transactions and authenticate user logins in real-time without relying on personally identifiable information (PII). ThreatMetrix profiles the device used in an online transaction so companies can determine whether the users are fraudsters or customers. ThreatMetrix device profiling goes beyond browser fingerprinting to identify the device, bypass proxies and detect the use of botnets. ThreatMetrix' simple and cost-effective software-as-a-service (SaaS) approach to implementation enables companies to get results in hours or days, rather than weeks or months. The company serves a rapidly growing customer base in the U.S. and around the world across a variety of industries including social networks (dating, gaming), financial services, e-commerce, affiliate marketing and payments. For more information, visit www.threatmetrix.com or call 1-650-625-1451.
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