Permira to Acquire Majority Position in BioCatch at $1.3bn Valuation

Permira Growth Opportunities Transaction builds on initial minority investment made in early 2023 to acquire a majority position and support BioCatch's accelerated growth within online fraud detection and financial crime prevention

NEW YORK and TEL AVIV, Israel, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BioCatch (the "Company"), the global leader in digital fraud detection and financial crime prevention powered by behavioral biometric intelligence, today announced that Permira Growth Opportunities II (the "Fund"), a fund advised by global private equity firm Permira, has agreed to acquire a majority position in the Company. Alongside the Fund's investment, existing shareholders Sapphire Ventures and Macquarie Capital will also increase their investments in BioCatch. The transaction is expected to accelerate the Company's global expansion, advance its innovative product roadmap and support its continued overall growth.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Fund will acquire a majority stake in BioCatch, buying out shares primarily from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities and Maverick Ventures, in a secondary transaction valuing the Company at a total enterprise valuation of $1.3bn.

BioCatch was founded in 2011 – at the dawn of a significant consumer shift from branch to online banking – with a mission to fight fraud and keep users safe in online transactions without disrupting user experience. Today, the Company is a leader in behavioral biometric intelligence and advanced fraud detection, leveraging patented artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning technology to analyze a user's cognitive intent and deliver highly accurate insights as to the legitimacy of their identity, motivations, and behavior. In 2023, the Company expanded its mission to include a proactive approach to fighting financial crime with the launch of predictive, behavior-based mule account detection.

As fraud attacks have become increasingly scaled, sophisticated and complex, BioCatch has experienced significant and sustained momentum. Permira, via its growth equity strategy, completed an initial minority investment in the Company in early 2023, a year that BioCatch ultimately finished with 49% ARR growth, whilst also surpassing the $100 million ARR milestone and attaining EBITDA profitability. Today, BioCatch counts more than 190 financial institutions as customers globally, including over 30 of the world's largest 100 global banks, who use its solutions to fight fraud, facilitate financial crime prevention and decision intelligence sharing, accelerate digital transformation, and grow the value of customer relationships.