Fraud prevention platform Sift gains unicorn status after netting $50m

Digital trust startup Sift Science raised $50m in new funding with the aim to continue expanding its product portfolio.

The round, which took the firm’s valuation beyond the $1bn mark, was led by Insight Partners and included Union Square Ventures and Stripes. With the new funding, Sift has raised $158m.

Sift now plans to escalate its engineering and sales teams around the world while boosting its growth plans.

Founded in 2011, Sift offers a test and safety suite which helps businesses boost their security, stop account takeovers, payment fraud and scam content from destroying a brand’s identity. The company adapts real-time machine learning technology to identify bad actors.

In general, fraud prevention teams are ill-equipped with the right resources with outdated and limited technology. Given that cyberattacks have been surging after the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s more important now than ever to onboard robust security measures in companies, it said.

Commenting on the funding, Sift president and CEO Marc Olesen said, “Legacy, rules-based approaches to fighting fraud can’t defend against the sophisticated fraud economy that has dramatically expanded and evolved in parallel with digital commerce over the last year.

“With this new investment, we can continue to build out our digital trust and safety platform to help merchants not only fight all types of fraud and abuse but reduce friction for legitimate customers and grow revenue.”

Sift has processed more than $250bn in transactions in 2020 with notable customers including Twitter Inc., Airbnb Inc. and Twilio.

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