Data analytics startup Quantexa has raised $65 million in a funding round backed by HSBC and Accenture

• Data analytics startup Quantexa just raised $65 million in a Series C funding round led by Evolution Equity Partners – and backed by HSBC and Accenture. 
• The global analytics market was valued at $49 billion worldwide in 2019 – more than double the value four years ago – and is predicted to reach $77 billion by 2023.
• Speaking to Business Insider, founder and CEO Vishal Marria said he was "nervous" about the impact COVID-19 might have on his fundraising efforts, but praised his team for "doubling down" in a crisis. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Quantexa, a UK data analytics startup, has raised $65 million in a funding round backed by Evolution Equity Partners, HSBC, and Accenture. 

With hundreds of clients in more than 70 countries, including HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, Quantexa uses the latest advancements in big data and AI, uncovering hidden risk and opportunities across financial crime, credit risk, and fraud. 

In 2019, the global analytics market was valued at $49 billion worldwide – more than double the value four years ago – and is predicted to reach $77 billion by 2023, according to Market Reports World.

Speaking to Business Insider, founder and CEO Vishal Marria said he saw a gap in the market while focusing on financial crime as an executive director at accounting firm EY. 

"I was working with a lot of clients, typically large banks, and they were relying on a small slither of data to try and deduce when an issue had occurred," he said. "But when you sound the alarm based on a small set of patterns, you see a lot of false positives turning up." 

He added: "You would never buy a house if you only got to look through the letterbox...You'd look around, check out the bathroom, the living room, and so on. And then you'd look at external information: Where are the schools? What's the crime rate like in the area? 

"You would make a decision after gathering a lot more internal and external information, and that's effectively what we help our clients do." 

Asking about fundraising amid a global pandemic, Marria said: "To be completely transparent, I was a bit nervous.

"Chemistry is really important to me, and meeting people over Zoom or [Microsoft] Teams is different to a face-to-face meeting. But our existing and new investors doubled down, and we're really pleased with what we've achieved and excited for the future." 

The latest round of funding follows a $22.7 million Series B round secured in August 2018, bringing total funds raised to date to $90 million.

Richard Seewald, founding and managing partner at Evolution Equity Partners will join Quantexa's board of directors as part of the new deal.

He said: "[Quantexa's] impressive rapid growth, renowned client base and potential to build further value across so many sectors make Quantexa a fantastic partner whose team I look forward to working with."

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source https://www.businessinsider.com/hsbc-accenture-ai-data-firm-quantexa-funding-round-2020-7