Cambridge the honey pot for US again as Visa swoops for Featurespace in c$1bn deal

Featurespace’s DeepTech origins combined with Visa’s digital payments leadership are poised to strengthen protection from financial crime for millions of people worldwide.

The acquisition of Featurespace will complement and strengthen Visa’s portfolio of fraud detection and risk-scoring solutions used by clients around the world to grow and protect their businesses.

It is the second company from the Invoke Capital stable to fall into American hands following the sale of Darktrace to Thoma Bravo. A third, Luminance, is expanding massively in the US.

Since its inception out of Cambridge University’s engineering department, Featurespace has developed innovative algorithmic-based solutions to analyse transaction data and detect even the most elusive fraud cases.

Business Weekly is seeking the exact acquisition price and details on whether Featurespace will retain its Cambridge UK base. It is currently headquartered in the city.

Antony Cahill, Global Head of Value-added Services at Visa, said: “Providing our clients with solutions that can adapt to and anticipate the changing threat landscape is of the utmost importance.

“Featurespace’s strong foundation in AI will enhance our existing product portfolio and enable us to address our clients’ most complex and pressing challenges. We look forward to welcoming the Featurespace team to Visa.”

The combined expertise of Visa and Featurespace will enable clients to manage fraud in real-time and further protect the payments ecosystem using AI-fuelled solutions. This investment builds on Visa’s commitment to ecosystem security.

In the last five years alone, Visa has invested billions of dollars in technology, including to reduce fraud and enhance network security. Dave Excell, co-founder of Featurespace, said the best was yet to come. He said: “This isn’t the end of the story – it’s simply the start of a new chapter in making the world a safer place to transact.

“It is astonishing to see that the company that we’ve built protects millions of people, across billions of transactions, for trillions of dollars, within milli-seconds. We have delivered on our promise to make the world a safer place to transact.”

Excell added: “Over the past 12 years we have served the financial services industry, building a company that has gone from strength to strength, and we are thrilled to become a part of Visa.

“With Visa, we can bring the innovation, integrity and purpose of our platform and our team to more payment service providers and ultimately, stop more people from becoming victims of financial crime.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. The deal is expected to close in fiscal year 2025 and will provide significant benefits to financial institutions, consumers, and the wider payments industry.

Visa is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories.

More than 80 direct customers and 100,000 businesses have put their trust in Featurespace’s technology including HSBC, NatWest, TSYS, Worldpay, Danske Bank, Akbank, Edenred and Permanent TSB.

Founded in 2008, and headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Featurespace has over 400 team members, operating globally from six locations.

Featurespace, backed by global investors including Chrysalis Investments, Highland Europe, IP Group plc, Insight Partners, MissionOG, and TTV Capital, has been at the forefront of developing technology to combat fraud and financial crime worldwide.

CEO Martina King commented: “Emerging from Cambridge University's engineering department, we have deeply enjoyed and appreciated the support of the Cambridge community – with none greater than Business Weekly’s.

“Partnering with Visa will empower us to expand our technology and connect with a wider array of financial institutions, bolstering consumer protection against fraud and financial crime and fortifying a secure global payments ecosystem.”