From our vision to traction, Planet Compliance shine the spotlight on Neotas.
- What can you tell us about your company and your products & services?
Neotas is an online due diligence company. We provide deep insight on risk by interrogating social media, the deep and the dark web. We help our clients reduce fraud, avoid bad hires and comply with the latest regulatory guidelines. Our services are scalable, cost-effective and apply a unique blend of AI technology and human analytics for smarter risk management.
- How did you come up with the idea and what drives you?
Our CEO & Co-founder Vipul Mishra is an ex-Head of Information Security at a leading hedge fund. Having dealt with a number of fraud cases in his day-to-day role, it soon became apparent that more proactive measures were needed to really tackle fraud and financial crime. The idea for Neotas was borne out of a passion for technology and fueled by deep industry expertise in financial services and fraud prevention.
- What is it that makes your company different from others?
Our unique blend of machine learning, natural language processing and image analytics enables new insight into global risk. When coupled with multi-lingual analytical capabilities and deep industry expertise, our solutions become cost-effective and highly scalable. We complement and augment existing due diligence processes. Our approach to risk management is different. We take a proactive approach by looking at unstructured and otherwise underutilized data that sits across the largest dataset of them all – the Internet.
- Where are you based?
We are headquartered in London. Our clients are global and we offer multi-lingual capabilities.
- When was the company launched?
Neotas was founded in February 2017.
- What traction have you made? Can you tell us about your biggest achievements so far?
We have over 70 clients across the financial services space, including wealth managers, private equity firms, banks and insurance companies.
At the beginning of 2019, Neotas was selected as a top 20 start-up to join the FinTech Innovation Lab 2019, run by Accenture. The intensive accelerator programme, supported by 35 financial services companies, enabled Neotas to connect with the industry’s most senior banking and insurance executives, driving both scalability and innovation.
More recently, Neotas was awarded a grant from Innovate UK to back a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the internationally renowned AI Department at the University of Essex.
- What advice could you give to other entrepreneurs and start-ups?
Be procurement ready, especially for incumbent banks as the sales cycle can be much longer. The best bit of advice Neotas Co-founder Ian Howard was given as an entrepreneur has been “Don’t burn bridges. You’ll be surprised how many times you have to cross the same river.”
- What can you tell us about your team?
Our team brings together cyber intelligence, financial services, risk management and legal backgrounds. This blend of skills and expertise provides a fresh insight and invaluable perspectives on the due diligence landscape; that blended with our technology is what keeps us ahead of the curve.
- What’s next for your company?
As part of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership, we will be refining our contextual analysis and further integrating AI into the process. The incorporation of AI will enable our intelligence platform to take account of the context in which words or images are used – for example, to be able to tell the difference between an individual on a clay pigeon shoot, or a terrorist armed with a gun.
- How do potential customers and investors get in touch with you?
Get in touch with us directly or visit www.neotas.com for more information. Our solutions are scalable, fast and cost-effective.
This article was originally published on Planet Compliance
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