Romanian SaaS startup TypingDNA raises $1.5M to further expand and improve their technology

Romanian startup TypingDNA, the creator of award-winning typing biometrics technology, has raised $1.5M in seed round funding, the startup announced. The funding was led by the European venture firm GapMinder Venture Partners, but several international investors from U.S., U.K., and European Union also took part in the funding round. Namely, the previous investor Gecad Ventures, Techstars NYC alumni and mentors fund, angel investors as well as the founders of hypergrowth startups DataDog, WayUp and UiPath also participate in the funding.

Reportedly, the company will use the fund not only to improve their technology but also to expand their presence both internationally and sectorial – in the financial and enterprise sectors.

“Our goal”, says Raul Popa, CEO at TypingDNA, “is to be the number-one provider of typing biometrics technology. We are focused on striking more partnerships with major players in identity, authentication, two-factor authentication (2FA) and fraud prevention”.

For the leading investor, GapMinder, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is their prime interest. Hence their support and investment in this Romanian startup.

“We are constantly looking in the areas which can make a strong statement in what we call change, and AI is one of the main areas where we put our eyes and money”, says Cosmin Ochisor, Partner at GapMinder. ”TypingDNA biometrics technology is using proprietary pattern recognition, anomaly detection and one shot learning algorithms, adding a lot of value to the bottom line. We feel TypingDNA is at the forefront of the ‘AI-first’ wave”.

Founded in 2016 in Romania by data scientist Raul Popa, TypingDNA (a Techstars-backed company) is an established, behavioral biometrics SaaS company that offers highly accurate typing biometrics solutions. Simply put, TypingDNA recognizes people based on the way they type. That said, the company’s main solution is that their AI-based technology makes it easier to prevent fraudulent activity such as identity theft through keystroke dynamics.

So far, the company has won a number of awards, including “Best Newcomer”, “Best Startup”, “Best Fintech Startup”, “Disrupt100” and “EUTop50”. Recently, TypingDNA launched a Chrome extension alternative to Google Authenticator that won ProductHunt Product of the Day.

To date, the company has clients in the U.S. and Europe. Recently, the company started working directly with banks and other financial service providers to improve online fraud detection.

GapMinder, on the other hand, the Venture Capital (VC) Fund that led the funding round, is a Dutch VC targeting IT Software and Services start-ups in Romania and Central Eastern Europe. In a dynamic and growing start-up ecosystem, their focus is to support passionate and thoughtful founders to become global entrepreneurs and to rewrite the place of Romania in the global tech arena.