Google Capital Backs Pindrop in Latest Financing Round

Call-based fraud prevention specialist Pindrop has raised another considerable sum in investment. The company has announced that its Series C funding round raised $75 million.

This latest pile of funding complements the #35 million raised in the companies Series B round of financing, continuing the company’s momentum as investor interest rises. This latest round was led by Google Capital and its supporters included Citi Ventures, Felicis Ventures, and IVP. Series C has brought the company’s total investment to $122 million.

It’s the company’s patented “phoneprinting” platform that has investors so excited. The system analyzes 147 distinct aspects of an inbound phone call to make determinations about potential fraud on the part of the caller, assessing factors such as the caller’s location and VoIP packet loss. While such a system has obvious value to organizations with call-in centers, such as banks, it could also have important applications in the Internet of Things, where voice-based device interaction is expected to play an important role. Commenting on Google Capital’s interest in a statement, partner Gene Frantz explained, “As voice commands become the standard across intelligent assistants, cars, and the Internet of Things, Pindrop is creating the leading authentication and security solution for this exploding market.”

It’s a major validation of the company, given the respect that Google commands in the IT industry. For his company’s part, Pindrop CEO Vijay Balasubramaniyan commended Google for granting Pindrop “amazing access to their expertise in phone and voice related technologies,” and said that the Series C funding “will help accelerate our global expansion and allow us to invest more dollars into research and development as we continue building the definitive platform that enables security, trust and identity in the voice world.”

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January 28, 2016 – by Alex Perala