Investment is Part of $15M Round; Funds to Expand Capabilities in Fraud Protection
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Nov. 8, 2007 Intel Capital today announced a $10 million investment in iovation, which provides online security and fraud protection services. This investment is part of a $15 million investment round led by Intel Capital. The funds will be used to accelerate the development and delivery of next-generation fraud and abuse management solutions, broaden the company's intellectual property portfolio and propel the evolution of online trust.
"The importance of security and fraud protection on the Internet cannot be over valued," said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital. "This market segment must stay one step ahead of business needs and our investment should go a long way toward helping iovation provide meaningful online security benefits."
The company provides the first device reputation service aimed at protecting business on the Internet. The real-time service prevents online fraud including charge-backs, identity theft, phishing, click fraud and other abuses of online services such as child predation, stealing or cheating, posting unwanted content, and chat abuse.
"We are thrilled to have Intel Capital as an investor and share their vision that device reputation will become the trust infrastructure for the Internet, transforming the way businesses and consumers interact online," said Greg Pierson, CEO and co-founder of iovation. "Intel's tremendous brand lends credibility and their global network and expertise will create real growth opportunities."
"We recognize the value of iovation's solution to assure secure online transactions for large businesses," said Lisa Lambert, managing director of the Software and Solutions Group, Intel Capital. "The company's consistent growth, profitability and high customer return-on-investment make iovation an important landmark on the Enterprise 2.0 landscape."
iovation's patented technology has been deployed for 6 years in likely environments for online fraud and abusive behavior. The company has customers in a number of verticals, including financial services, social networking, e-commerce, and online gaming. iovation provides real-time protection around the clock, receives upwards of 450 million reputation inquiries per year and currently tracks the reputations of approximately 13 million devices.
"The investment in iovation fits with Intel's global strategy and long-standing history with fraud and risk management advocacy," said Angela Biever, managing director, Consumer Internet, Intel Capital. "We believe that device based fraud management tools are the missing component of most companies' fraud management portfolio and that iovation is poised to be a leader in supplying this solution."
As an Intel Capital portfolio company, iovation plans to participate in Intel Capital's IP Access Program, which will provide access to Intel's patent portfolio and help iovation maximize the value of its own IP portfolio.
About iovation
iovation, headquartered in Portland, Oregon pioneered the use of device reputation for managing online fraud, and abusive behavior and ensuring trust in online transactions. Today, iovation manages the reputation of millions of Internet-enabled devices worldwide, allowing its customers to both control online fraud and abuse while benefiting from sharing device reputation intelligence. For more information on iovation and the company's products, visit http://www.iovation.com.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing, and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$6 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. In that timeframe, about 157 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and another 187 have been acquired by other companies. In 2006, Intel Capital invested about US$1.07 billion in 163 deals with approximately 60 percent of funds (excluding Clearwire) invested outside the United States. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit http://www.intelcapital.com.