A Belfast company that uses a human heartbeat pattern to securely identify an individual has attracted a major funding injection totalling £3.5 million (€3.92 million).
B-Secur, which has developed patented biometric technology, sealed the early-stage funding boost from a syndicate of investors which included Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV) and Kernel Capital, which is the manager of the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Funds.
The Belfast company is working with organisations in Britain, Ireland and the United States who are using B-Secur’s ECG (electrocardiogram) biometric authentication technology as part of a campaign against cybercrime.
According to B-Secure's chief executive, Alan Foreman, the funding round underlines the growing demand from international organisations to ensure their customers are better protected in a digital world.
Recent high-profile cyber attacks have highlighted how vulnerable some digital identities can be to attack, whether it is customer or employee data and services or institutional bodies responsible for healthcare services.
Fighting cyber attacks
Mr Foreman believes that next-generation ECG authentication technology is crucial to fighting cyber attacks and can also help minimise hacking or spoofing risks.
“We are thrilled to gain the backing of ADV, Kernel and others which will drive us to grow significantly in the next 12 months and continue to invest in world-class science and engineering in Northern Ireland and beyond,” he added.
According to Michael Dimelow, head of Investment for ADV, B-Secur's technology "harnesses the unique power of the human heartbeat to unlock everything from finance to healthcare, from cars to buildings".
“ADV is excited to be supporting B-Secur as it deploys its market-leading patented software across all forms of devices including mobile and wearables,” Mr Dimelow said.
Jayne Brady, a partner with Kernel Capital, said the combination of a strong management and technical team which had developed a patent-protected, heartbeat-signature-based biometric authentication product were among the key factors behind its decision to back the Belfast company.
“With Northern Ireland rapidly becoming a key location on the global cybersecurity stage, we believe B-Secur will play a significant role in next-generation security systems as the company gains market share in financial services, access control and beyond,” she said.
