We are so excited to announce that Bureau is now out of stealth, and has raised a $12M Series A led by Quona Capital. Thanks to everyone who has joined us on this journey to fight fraud, protect & accelerate mobile transactions.

The digital economy is in hypergrowth: fintech, payments, e-commerce, crypto, on-demand transactions are on the rise. But so is an equal growth of fraud, cybercrime, phishing attacks, hacks, breaches, OTPs. More risk, more friction. The big question is: Growth without risk, possible? 

Bureau is here to make this possible. We are helping businesses grow without the fear of fraud. We deliver positive growth, diminish fraud and friction. Just a mobile number unlocks our full-stack ID verification & fraud prevention platform and lets businesses and users transact confidently.

Thank you to our customers, partners, investors, friends, and employees for all the trust you’ve placed in us. With a 12m strong trust network, we are just getting started on our mission to protect businesses and users from cyberfraud. We can’t wait to write the next chapter together.

Ranjan R Reddy, 

CEO

PRESS RELEASE

Digital identity and authentication platform Bureau raises $12 million Series A funding led by Quona

Bureau, a frictionless identity verification and fraud protection platform, emerged from stealth with a $12 million Series A round led by Quona Capital with participation from Commerce Ventures, Okta Ventures as well as strategic angels Mark Britto, EVP Chief Product Officer at Paypal, and Bobby Mehta, Retd. President and CEO of Transunion. Bureau had raised a seed round of $4.2m in August 2020 from XYZ Ventures, Blume Ventures, Village Global, EMVC and Sweat Equity Ventures, who have invested in the Series A round as well.

The latest funding will be used to enhance the products and establish a wider footprint in India, and South-East Asia. The company also plans to double-up on its current capabilities in end-to- end customer on-boarding and launch solutions including account takeover prevention, transaction monitoring, and solving return-to-origin (RTO), and chargebacks use cases.     

Bureau was founded by serial entrepreneur Ranjan Reddy in 2020, just as the COVID pandemic was dramatically pushing the world towards digital transactions. It has been helping businesses automate their decisions, on-board good customers, prevent fraud, and power seamless user experiences. Bureau verifies identities, fights fraud, and generates trust in both businesses and consumers. With the sustained increase in online transactions and payments, it is imperative for financial institutions to understand their customers’ digital persona and behaviour, as they safely on-board those who are new to credit while minimizing risk and fraud.      

“Bureau's platform seamlessly protects and accelerates user journeys using only a mobile number. Digital interactions become smoother, swifter and more secure,” said Ranjan Reddy, Founder and CEO of Bureau.     

As per Fortune Business Insights, fraud detection and prevention platforms globally have witnessed a rise in demand, post-pandemic, with their market size projected to grow from $26.97 billion in 2021 to $141.75 billion in 2028. 

“COVID has created a transformative opportunity to remove inefficiencies across the digital ecosystem. Solving friction around transactions and trust for businesses and consumers is absolutely critical for hyper-growth in global emerging markets and Asia, and we think Bureau’s full-stack solution has tremendous potential,” said Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founder and managing partner at Quona. “We are excited to see Bureau’s growth and ambition to become the gold standard to ensure that people and businesses can truly trust one another enough to transact safely, and deliver digital and financial inclusion.” 

Karthik Reddy, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Blume Ventures, said "In a mobile-first world, Bureau has recognized that there is a beautiful balance in securing user transactions without compromising on customer delight. By doing so in an accountable fashion and underwriting the risks, Enterprises are seeing Bureau as the most natural partner in reducing costs and frictions of fraud while keeping customer experience intact."

“Bureau’s existing customer base, and the traction that they have gained among consumers, speaks to the tremendous market opportunity ahead,” said Austin Arensberg, Senior Director at Okta Ventures. “Bureau is the first company we’ve backed that’s explicitly tackling the emerging Asian markets, and we are excited to support the company and team on their journey.”

With over 12 million identities verified through the platform to date, the company has a customer base comprising leaders in fintech and financial services including Jupiter Money, Goibibo, Aditya Birla Capital, ICICI Prudential, India Gold, and PhonePe. “We are proud to be at the forefront of making mobile transactions a safer and effortless experience. Hyper-growth of online economy demands a risk infrastructure that will support and scale with it. Bureau’s identity verification platform will enable this growth without the risk of cyber fraud, and friction. We are excited to double our investments in building cutting edge products, forging long term customer relationships, and attracting great talent to build a trust network that lets businesses and users transact with confidence.” adds Reddy.

The fund raise news has also appeared in Economic Times, Times of India, Business Standard, VCCircle, Yourstory, Inc42, among media outlets.