Mercia invests £2m in fraud screening firm
Investment firm Mercia Technologies has made a £2m investment in a data company which provides a range of products that allow businesses to run background checks on their customers.
Mercia’s investment in the Newport-based firm is part of a £3m funding round alongside the Development Bank of Wales.
Mercia now has a direct equity holding of 17.4% in W2 and the investment follows on from initial funding rounds by Mercia’s third-party managed funds.
W2’s software-as-a-service tools provide real-time identity verification services to help organisations prevent fraud and money laundering, a market estimated to grow from $14.4bn in 2016 to $33.2bn in 2021.
The company targets firms in the regulated, government and business communities across the globe and is primarily focused on the gaming, payments and foreign exchange markets with multi-year revenue contracts.
Mercia’s investment will support the business in further expanding its global sales and marketing plans as well as broadening and accelerating product development.
Founded in 2011 by CEO Warren Russell, W2 has consistently achieved over 100%year on year revenue growth and now employs 42 people. It has also rapidly grown its client base, which includes goHenry, Caxton and Wirecard.
Warren Russell, CEO of W2, said: “Thanks to the continued proactive support from Mercia, we will be able to expand our position within the market and step up our international sales plans. W2 has experienced significant growth in revenues to date and this additional funding will facilitate the continued expansion of the business.”
Julian Viggars, chief investment officer of Mercia Technologies, added: “Having initially backed W2 through our managed funds, we are delighted to continue to support the business and its highly experienced management team as it becomes the latest Emerging Star to join our direct investment portfolio. SaaS technology continues to be one of Mercia’s key areas of focus and we see significant potential for delivering shareholder value over the medium term as W2 continues to grow.”
