business

Acuant Announces The Acquisition Of Manchester-based Hello Soda

Acuant, the global trusted identity platform for fraud prevention and AML compliance, today announced the completion of the acquisition of Hello Soda as part of its continued investment and commitment to innovative technology.

Hello Soda is a global provider of identity verification and KYC solutions headquartered in the UK with focus on the European and Asian markets. Along with the company’s deep expertise in eMoney and gaming, with customers including VirginBet, Klarna and Paysafe, the union will bring together powerful technology and data science capabilities that are key to unlocking trust in digital identities.

“Our goal has always been to power trust for all, a vision we share with Hello Soda whom we are excited to welcome to the Acuant family,” said Yossi Zekri President and CEO of Acuant.

“This is truly the most exhilarating time in our company’s history, coinciding with the disruption of traditional financial markets, the rapid digitalization of the world and the need for business and governments to help safeguard identity more than ever before. Adding Hello Soda to our Trusted Identity Platform will reach more people today and position us even stronger for the future of digital identity.”

Rob McCann

Rob McCann, Partner at BDO, commented: “We were delighted to have advised the shareholders on this important transaction. Hello Soda is a stand-out business in an exciting and growing sector, founded in Manchester and with strong international presence. Through this transaction, the business has even more opportunity to increase its international footprint, and has a very exciting future ahead. It is a great story for Northern technology businesses.”

"Hello Soda’s foundation in advanced analytics has driven its success in developing and delivering to market, a suite of solutions that leverage digital data sources and capabilities for the purpose of KYC and AML. With a strong focus on ensuring businesses receive actionable insight, Hello Soda’s technology utilizes proprietary analytics, matching algorithms and data science modelling to provide configurable and composite scoring, enabling businesses to make trusted decisions from the point of onboarding to enhanced due diligence (EDD) and continuous monitoring. "

James Blake, Founder and CEO of Hello Soda.SAID: “We could not be happier to join Acuant, bringing our talent, technology, network and expertise to strengthen all we have accomplished and to take our mutual vision further as a team.”

“Our combined technology will serve us well in our joint mission to democratize trust and provide solutions to reach every sector of the global population, allowing every individual to conduct trusted transactions when and where they wish.”