Voice Deepfake-focused Illuma Labs Raises $9M in Series A Funding Round

Illuma Labs, a fintech company specializing in voice authentication technology for banking contact centers, has raised $9 million in Series A funding.

The round was led by LiveOak Ventures, with participation from Forefront Venture Partners, Curql Fund, UsNet, Capital Factory, Connexus, and TDECU. The funding will drive the development of Illuma’s voice biometric solutions, which focus on preventing fraud, detecting deepfakes, and improving security for credit unions and banks.

Illuma’s flagship product, Illuma Shield, replaces traditional authentication methods with real-time voice verification, streamlining the customer onboarding experience while reducing fraud and operational costs.

“While we are excited about the capital infusion to accelerate our development of fraud prevention and deepfake detection tools, we are equally excited about bringing in new partners to fuel Illuma’s continued commercial growth,” said Illuma founder and CEO, Milind Borkar. “LiveOak Ventures and Forefront Venture Partners bring invaluable operating expertise and industry connections to help Illuma scale to the next level. And we are deeply appreciative of the continued support from Curql Fund, UsNet, Capital Factory, Connexus, and TDECU.”

Early adopters such as TDECU and Connexus Credit Unions have reported improved security and shorter call times using Illuma’s technology. The funding will also support the expansion of Illuma’s solutions to more financial institutions nationwide.

“With Illuma’s position in the Fintech sector as a provider that delivers state-of-the-art voice biometrics accessible for financial institutions of all sizes, there is a clear growth path to becoming the preferred provider of voice authentication and fraud prevention solutions in this space,” said Venu Shamapant, Founding Partner at LiveOak Ventures.

The increasing accessibility of deepfake creation tools has increased concern over the threat of voice spoofing attacks. Last month, an AI-generated video mimicking Vice President Kamala Harris’s voice stoked further concern over the potential misuse of deepfake technology in politics.

The video, which was shared by Elon Musk on his “X” social media platform without initially noting it was a parody, caused confusion and highlighted the risks of AI-generated content misleading voters ahead of the 2024 election.

Source: 01net

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September 11, 2024 – by Tony Bitzionis