Payment company PayPal is acquiring Simility, an artificial intelligence company that has developed fraud detection tools, for $120 million in cash. Prior to the acquisition, PayPal was also an investor in Simility. Simility had raised nearly $25 million in funding and was valued at $52.75 million, according to PitchBook. And PayPal said that the acquisition will enhance its fraud prevention and risk management solutions to merchants around the world.
How Simility works / Photo Credit: Simility
“Digital commerce has exploded, and fraudsters have taken note, adapting and developing new methods to carry out their crimes,” said PayPal COO Bill Ready in a statement. “PayPal has been at the forefront of developing innovative fraud prevention and risk management solutions for nearly 20 years, but until now, merchants havent been able to configure those solutions to manage the unique complexities of their businesses. Together with Simility, we will be able to put more control in the hands of our merchants to fight fraud while helping make commerce experiences faster and more secure.”
Simility integrates beacons, APIs and SDKs in mobile apps and websites. And then it collects and transforms custom data feeds your analysts to ingest, transform, and analyze any form of data. And by monitoring digital transactions and buying activity where it takes place, Simility will be able to fight off fraudulent actions.
Simility also utilizes machine learning and feeds from third party data sources as well. Some of the customers that Simility works with are PayPal, eBay, OfferUp and Dicks Sporting Goods.
“Our vision for Simility was to create an adaptive risk management platform that empowers organizations operating in a digital world to manage an evolving fraud and risk landscape where data breaches are the new normal,” added Simility co-founder and CEO Rahul Pangam. “We are excited to enter the next phase of our growth with PayPal and are thrilled to join them to help drive the next generation of payment and commerce solutions while scaling our business together.:
This is not the only major acquisition that PayPal made recently. PayPal announced the $2.2 billion acquisition of iZettle in the middle of May, the $400 million acquisition of Hyperwallet earlier this month, and Jetlore in late May for an undisclosed amount.
