Member Article

Data security firm sees revenue jump by 65% after US expansion

Cloud-based data security company Semafone has revealed record revenue growth in the last 12 months after a successful expansion into the US market.

Revenues at the Guildford-headquartered business, which also has an office in London, rose to £8.3m in 2016 after it snagged a number of blue-chip Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 customers.

The company now boasts 63 clients including big-names such as The British Heart Foundation and AO.com in the UK and Harley Davidson and Cox Communications in the United States, who utilise its cloud-based over the phone payment platform.

According to Semafone, its system providing secure voice transactions for payments where the customer is not present, for example with call centres or over the phone with retailers, is the only fully compliant global standard for accepting payments over the phone.

Rather than reading out their card number or getting passed on to another call operative for security purposes, Semafone’s system allows customers to enter their card details using the keypad on their phones while on a call with a customer service representative, which is then authorised by its cloud platform.

Semafone’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Critchley described last year as a ‘tipping point’ for the firm, after finding immediate success upon its expansion into both the US and Canada.

He said: “We are delighted to have made an immediate and material inroad into the U.S. and Canadian markets with key wins in the telco and insurance sectors.

“Our new cloud-based partnerships have enlarged the market for our products globally, beyond the already impressive list of blue-chip clients we serve.

“As an innovative business which grew from a start-up based in the UK, we are very proud of our technology and intellectual property which is now recognised, purchased and licensed the world over.”

Chairman David Sear added: “I, along with key shareholders Octopus Ventures, BGF and the founders of Semafone, offer our profound congratulations to the team and their enterprise customers and partners.

“Together, they have created unique products and services which ensure ‘privacy by design’ in secure data capture for the 21st century.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →