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Fraud-detection startup Simility announced a $17.5 million funding round on December 12, 2017, led by Accel. PayPal joined as a new strategic investor, while existing investors The Valley Fund and Trinity Ventures also participated. Simility said the round brought its total funding to $25 million. The company was later acquired by PayPal in 2018.
Who invested in Simility’s 2017 funding round?
Accel led the $17.5 million round. PayPal invested as a new strategic investor, and existing backers The Valley Fund and Trinity Ventures also took part. Simility announced the financing on December 12, 2017, and said it had raised $25 million in total after the round. Simility’s announcement did not break down how much each investor contributed.
What did Simility plan to do with the money?
Simility said it planned to use the funding to grow its partner network and expand sales, partnerships, customer-success and data-science teams. Its stated plans included sales operations in the United States, Brazil and Europe, as well as additional data-science capacity in Europe. These were plans described at the time of the announcement, not confirmation that each expansion was completed.
What did Simility offer?
Simility described its product as fraud-detection software available in cloud-based and on-premise forms, combining machine learning with human analysis. In its investment announcement, Accel characterized the platform as open and extensible, arguing that customizable risk controls could help balance fraud protection with customer experience. Those are company and investor descriptions; the available announcements do not establish independently verified detection accuracy, false-positive rates or performance against competitors.
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Accel said the company’s co-founders were Rahul Pangam, Uttam Phalnikar and Kedar Samant, and described their previous work at Google on fraud and anti-abuse issues. Accel also wrote in 2017 that more than 65% of companies with revenue above $1 billion had suffered some form of payment fraud “last year.” That figure is Accel’s claim in its investment post, not an independently validated industry statistic. Accel’s investment post provides that context.
In Simility’s December 12, 2017 funding announcement, co-founder and CEO Rahul Pangam said: “Digital disruption in the financial and commerce sectors has resulted in the need for a fraud and risk management solution that goes beyond legacy, static rule-based offerings to offer protection in a digital first, big data analytics-focused environment.”
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What happened to Simility after the funding round?
PayPal announced an agreement to acquire Simility on June 21, 2018, for $120 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments. PayPal said the acquisition would expand its fraud-prevention and risk-management capabilities for merchants and described Simility’s technology as customizable, machine-learning-powered fraud tools. PayPal COO Bill Ready said: “Together with Simility, we will be able to put more control in the hands of our merchants to fight fraud while helping make commerce experiences faster and more secure.” PayPal’s announcement described the proposed transaction and its stated rationale.
PayPal recorded the acquisition as completed on July 13, 2018, in its follow-up update. Simility is therefore not an independent startup today; PayPal’s Simility page says the company is part of PayPal and that its website has moved.
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Simility funding and acquisition timeline
- 2014: Simility said it was founded in this year.
- 2015: Accel says it made a seed investment in Simility.
- December 12, 2017: Simility announced the $17.5 million round led by Accel, with PayPal, The Valley Fund and Trinity Ventures participating.
- June 21, 2018: PayPal announced its agreement to acquire Simility for $120 million in cash, subject to adjustments.
- July 13, 2018: PayPal recorded completion of the acquisition.
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