Anti-fraud unicorn: Israel's Riskified raises $165m. in funding round

The company currently employs over 420 employees at its Tel Aviv and New York offices, and is planning to open a Shanghai office before the end of the year.

NOVEMBER 5, 2019 19:10

Riskified co-founders Eido Gal and Assaf Feldman (photo credit: TAL ORANI) — Riskified co-founders Eido Gal and Assaf Feldman

(photo credit: TAL ORANI)

Tel Aviv-based fraud prevention start-up Riskified became the latest Israeli “unicorn” on Tuesday, raising $165 million in funding at a valuation exceeding $1 billion.

A “unicorn” refers to start-ups reaching or exceeding a $1b. market valuation.

Led by global growth equity firm General Atlantic, Riskified says the Series E funding round will enable the company to scale business domestically and internationally, in addition to expanding its range of products.

Other investors included Fidelity Management & Research Company, Winslow Capital Management and previous backers of the company.

Founded by Eido Gal and Assaf Feldman in 2012, Riskified is described as the pioneer of chargeback-guarantee fraud prevention – a solution in which every transaction approved by Riskified carries a full, money-back guarantee for the merchant in case of a fraud-related charge-back.

By precisely distinguishing legitimate purchases from fraud based on machine-learning from 500,000 daily transactions, Riskified protects merchants and ensures that customers do not see their payments incorrectly rejected at the online checkout.

“Riskified began as a new and unproven approach to fraud prevention and payments,” said Gal, who serves as the company’s chief executive.

“Achieving success required merchants to believe in our vision and partner with us. Today’s announcement is a testament to those partnerships and the leadership position we attained in this important market.”

The company currently employs over 420 employees at its Tel Aviv and New York offices, and is planning to open a Shanghai office before the end of the year. The company, which employs many new immigrants at its Israel headquarters, has enjoyed a 250% compound annual growth rate over the past five years.